Perfect Timing
by Starlight841
Summary: With an enormous amount of stress piling down on him, how on earth is Logan going to take the news of a new baby on the way? Sequel to Kissmet. Future Fic. Slightly AU.
1. Sticks and Stones

Hello again! Well, here is the not-so-long awaited sequel to Kissmet! It's based on the chapter "Becoming Bob Newhart" for those of you who don't know. And for those of you who are new to the story line, you don't really have to read Kissmet to understand the story. They can stand on their own pretty easily. There may be references to my story later on but if you have questions you can ask me. Anyway, tell me what you think! I love you get your feed back!

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Gilmore Girls

**Summary: **With an enormous amount of stress piling down on him, how on earth is Logan going to take the news of a new baby on the way? Sequel to Kissmet. Slightly AU.

**Chapter One**

**Sticks and Stones**

What was she going to tell Logan?

That was the first thought that popped into her mind. They hadn't planned for this. They had done just the opposite actually. They had gone over every detail, every measure to make sure that this wouldn't happen. Well…maybe not _every _measure. But like Logan was going to do that…

A tiny stick had never carried so much weight before. This wasn't the time. They couldn't deal with this right now, not with the way their lives were. They had just moved into a new house, a new city even. She had applied for a job at the Times. And then there was…well…the forbidden topic, the subject that Logan liked to pretend didn't exist but was _very _real.

The lawsuit.

Some big-wig doctor was suing the company for libel and Logan was left to deal with the aftermath while his father went to Fiji. Apparently being the heir to the company only holds any authority when something goes terribly wrong. Logan had been coming home late almost every night and sometimes locked himself in the study for hours on end, screaming at lawyers, shuffling through papers and contracts. There was a lot of money on the line. It was just one of the many problems weighing down on their shoulders. Others were regarding-

"Mommy!"

-them.

What was she going to tell Logan?

She walked out of the master bathroom, leaving the pregnancy test on the counter. Upon entering her bedroom she found her six year old daughter standing in the doorway in a fluffy pink snow suit with green gloves and a stocking cap. Her cheeks were a rosy shade of pink and the little tufts of blonde hair sticking out of her hat clung to her face from the moisture.

"Lorelai Elizabeth Huntzberger! You're tracking snow all over the house." Rory scolded. "What have I told you over and over again about your snow clothes?"

"Take them off in the garage…" the little girl answered meekly.

"That's right." Rory said as she began to dry Ellie of with a bath towel.

"But, Mommy, It's a mergancy!" Rory sighed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Me and Jake-"

"Jake and I…"

"Jake and I were sledding down the really big hill in the backyard and we were goin really really fast and then we hit a bump and Jake flewed out of the back of the sled and hit his arm on a rock and then he started screaming really really loud and he's not moving anymore!" Ellie explained, throwing her arms around in dramatic gestures. Rory started at her daughter wide-eyed, frozen in fear. "Mommy, is he dead?"

With those words Rory bolted down the stairs and through the house. She ran out the backdoor and saw her three year old son lying in the snow. She ran over to him and kneeled down, her heart breaking at the sight of his sad sniffling face.

"What happened, baby?" She asked, wiping the tears from his face.

"I hurted my awm." He whined.

"Which one?" Rory asked. He pointed to his right arm, leaving it lie still on the ground. Rory started to unzip his coat and tried to pull it off as gently as she could. Jake continued to wail as she tried to free his arm. When she finally removed the coat, she noticed that the arm was slightly bent and extremely swollen. Fearing the worst, she winced. "Can you move it sweetheart?" The little boy shook his head, sniffing as he did.

"It hurts, Mommy!" he cried.

"I know sweetheart. Let me see it…" Rory reached out and tried to lift his arm up but he child started screaming.

"No! Don't touch it!" he started. "I-I-I-It h-hu-hurts!"

"Jake, sweetie, can you pick it up yourself?" she asked. He shook his head. Rory sighed and started to pick him up, careful to support the injury as much as possible.

"No, Mommy! It h-hurts! S-Stop it-it hurts really b-ba-bad!"

"I have to touch it sweetheart. We need to take you to the hospital." Jake's eyes went wide in fear and he began to cry even harder.

"No!" he screamed. "I d-don't wanna g-go to the hosapal! No! Mommy! Don't make me go! I-I-I don't wa-wanna go!"

* * *

"I don't wanna leave!" Jake whined as Rory lifted him off the examination table and placed him on the floor. The doctor smiled and kneeled down to his level, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Don't worry, buddy, you'll be back in no time to get that thing off." He said, tapping the green cast covering the little boy's right arm. "But you did an awesome job. You were very brave."

"Can I see my bone again!?!" Jake asked excitingly. The doctor chuckled and picked the little boy up, showing him the X-ray pinned on the light board on the wall. He pointed to the tiny crack on the picture and told him that was where he hurt his bone. "What's that called?" he asked, pointing to the bone on the left.

"That's the radius." The doctor answered. "You hurt the other one, that's called the ulna." Jake nodded.

"How come it's bended?" he asked.

"Well, that's because your bones are still getting strong and when you broke one side of your bone the other side bent because it's more flexible than a grown-up's."

"Is it gonna be bended forever?" Jake asked his eyes wide in fear. The doctor laughed.

"No, we fixed it, buddy. When you get your cast of it'll be good as new." He set Jake back on the floor and turned to Rory.

"It looks like you've got a doctor on your hands." He said. Rory smiled.

"Just don't tell that to my father-in-law." She said, smiling at her son as he climbed on a stool and began poking at a model heart on the counter.

"Now, as I said it's a greenstick fracture. It's really not that big a deal. It's really common in kids, especially at his age. It should heal within about a month or so. Go ahead and make an appointment to come back in about three or four weeks. We'll take another X-ray and see how he's progressing. We may even be able to take the cast off by then. Also, remember to wrap it up real tight before he takes a bath and keep him from sticking pencils down there and climbing any trees and he should be fine."

"That's easier said than done." She said as she watched him jump of the swivel chair and, luckily, land on his feet. She gasped and brought a hand to her heart. "Jacob!" she scolded. "Blame that on my husband."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." The doctor said, kneeling down to the toddler's level once again. "Allright, Jake, how'd you like a sucker for being such a good sport." Jake's eyes widened in anticipation and he eagerly awaited the candy.

"Thank you!" he said, sticking the red sucker in his mouth.

"You're very welcome." The doctor said. "Do you want a sucker too, Ellie? You did a very good job holding your little brother's hand. He's really lucky to have such a cool big sister."

Ellie, who had been shyly clinging to the leg of her mother, nodded softly and took the offered candy from the doctor. Rory ran her fingers through her daughter's hair and smiled at her.

"What do you say, Ellie?" she prompted.

"Thank you." She said meekly.

"Your welcome, sweetheart." The doctor said. "We'll see you in a few weeks."

"Actually, Dr. Stevenson, I was wondering if you could recommend a good OBGYN. We're new to the area and I…well…It looks as if I'll be needing one soon."

"Of course." He said, writing down a name and number on a piece of paper and handing it to her. "Victoria Myers. She's actually one the best OBGYN's at this hospital. If you'd like you can make an appointment with her when you schedule Jake's next X-ray."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Your welcome. Congratulations."

"Yea…thanks…"

* * *

_I don't even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it._

Rory's eyes lingered off of the page in front of her and focused on the wall for a moment. Maybe he'd be happy. He loved Jake and Ellie with all his heart. Just watching him with them everyday brought a smile to her face and a tingling to her heart that was so joyful it couldn't be described with mere words. He always did love kids. She had learned that quickly during the brief period of time her parents were married years ago. He was so amazing with Gigi. She loved him. She still does.

It was crazy to think that he would be upset over another child. After all, it was his idea to have Jake. She shouldn't worry too much. He would be happy. Of course he would be happy. She'd tell him tonight when he gets home. Right now she'd just read and focus on Holden's sorrows instead of her own.

_I don't even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it._

Although, he _will _be coming home late. It _was _already ten o'clock and after another long and stressful day at work he'd probably just want to sleep. It wouldn't be fair to ask him to have a serious conversation like this in that state. She should probably wait until tomorrow morning, that way he'll be completely alert and energized. Perhaps the good news would even put him in a good mood and brighten up his day.

He could use a bright day after the past few weeks of misery. But what if it didn't put him in a good mood? He had been so unbelievably stressed. If he had one more thing to deal with he might just break. _  
_

_I don't even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it._

Damn it! How many times can you read one sentence over and over again? She put the book down on the next stand and rested her head on the pillow. Closing her eyes, her thoughts drifted of once again.

She hadn't done this in years; since she found out she was pregnant with Ellie actually. It takes something big to ruin her concentration while she was reading; an unexpected child was just big enough, along with life threatening illness and the coming of the apocalypse. All of those things held enough shock value to completely tear her thinking away from literature.

She had found out she was pregnant with Ellie shortly after their wedding. It _defiantly_ wasn't something they had planned on so soon. Rory was just out of college. Logan had just gotten settled back at home. The internet company was picking up and he had finally moved back home, not needing to spend as much time in New York.

When she had told him he was…surprised. He hadn't really said anything at all, just stood there with his mouth open for a while before walking out the of apartment. She had been terrified that day, afraid that he just wouldn't come back. But he did. And he came back with a bag full of toys and a white onesie that said "freshly baked" in black letters.

"_I saw it in the window of this boutique on third street and I thought it was funny and then it hit me that you really have a…_human_ just… _baking_ in there and I went inside and bought it cause it doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl it can wear it either way. And then when I was inside I saw all these toys and they had a stuffed Ramón…"_

_Logan reached into a bag and pulled out a stuffed penguin with his wings sticking out in the back and a small patch of orangish fuzz on the top of his head. _

"…_and who doesn't love Hispanic penguins with Robin William's voice? So I had to get it. And, I got a Nemo and a Donkey and I got some rattles and blocks and a big long crinkly snake thing. The owner of the store said they liked the sounds. And I got this quilt…" _

_He pulled out a blanket with pick and green alternating patches and placed it on the table. _

"_I know it's kinda girly but…we could be having a girl. So I got it and…" _

"_Logan…" Rory interrupted, placing her hands on his face and forcing him to look at her. "I love you." _

"_I'm so sorry, Ace. I don't know what came over me. I just…left. I was so…I don't know. I was scared. I'm still scared but it's a good kinda scared, like an anxious scared…we're having a baby." Rory nodded and started to cry. _

"_Yea…we're having a baby." _

How could she be so sure he would take the news so well this time? After all they already had two kids and they had said once Jake was born that they weren't going to try for another, if not never than at least for a few years. It had only been three. She was on the pill. They used condoms… when they were available anyway. How could this have happened?

They should have snipped Logan when they had the chance. Although to do that she'd probably have to drug him, blindfold him, and drag him against his will to the doctors office where they would have to strap him down to keep him from harming the doctors and himself. On second thought it was probably better they didn't.

What was she going to tell him?

She closed her eyes and started counting backward from one hundred, trying to block the thoughts from her mind once and for all. By the time she reached about fifty she was lost in the world of dreams, only to be awoken an hour later by the opening of the bedroom door.

* * *

"Ace?" Logan whispered as he walked into their bedroom. His eyes fell upon the sleeping form of his wife and he smiled sadly. He was hoping she would be awake when he got home. He walked to the closet, stripping his clothes off on the way, and changed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. He closed the closet door and walked up to the bed.

Reaching down, he brushed a stray hair off of his wife's cheek and kissed it, causing her to stir.

"Logan?" she asked.

"Go back to sleep." He whispered.

"I have to tell you something." She said.

"You can tell me tomorrow. Go back to sleep." He said, before getting up and walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm not tired. I'm gonna get a drink and watch TV." Rory hummed and rolled back over as Logan slipped out of the bedroom.

He walked down the hall and stopped at his daughter's open door. He peaked inside and smiled at her blonde head resting peacefully on her pillow. He noticed that she was shivering slightly and walked inside. Taking a blanket off of the chair next to the window, he draped it over her and kissed her forehead.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Hi, Cinder-Ellie, go back to sleep."

"Where's Ramón?" she asked. Logan looked down at his feet and noticed the stuffed penguin lying on the floor. He bent over and picked him up, handing him to his daughter. She hugged the plush toy tightly to her chest.

"You better be careful. One of these day's he's gonna hurt himself falling off this bed."

"Nuh-uh Daddy. He's a penguin he likes jumping off things." Logan chuckled softly.

"Well okay then." He said, tucking her blackest tightly around her. "I love you, angel."

"I love you too, Daddy."

He sighed as he felt a pull at his heart and kissed her forehead once again. When he married Rory he thought that there was no greater love he could ever experience in the world. That with her kiss he heart leapt to places that he would never be able to go beyond. But every time he his kids slipped their hands into his they pushed him even farther. They made him love them even more. They made him love Rory even more.

He stopped again at Jake's room and pressed his hear against the door. Satisfied with hearing the sounds of silence he continued his trek down the kitchen, not wanting to wake the boy up.

Jake was so much like him it was scary. Once you wake that child up there is no getting him back to sleep. He was an endless ball of energy, wanting to go everywhere and see everything all at one time. He knew how much it scared Rory. Every time their son jumped out of a tree or tripped on the side walk she had flashbacks of seeing Logan lying in a hospital bed, bruised and battered, dangerously close to death. Something she didn't know was it scared him as well.

He walked down to the kitchen and fixed himself a sandwich and a glass of scotch. After his day he needed a drink more than anything. Well…really he wanted sex more than anything but with Rory asleep he didn't think that was going to happen. Though he did need a release, something, _anything_. Maybe he should take up jogging again. He hadn't jogged since he was on the basketball team in high school. But it was a good way f handling his stress.

He had never been so concerned in all of his life. For the first time he could remember he was actually worried about money. It was a feeling he had never experienced before. He had his kids' college and trust funds on the line. That was what scared him the most; the fact that if they lost this suit he may not be able to offer his kids the luxuries they had become accustomed to. He would walk through hell and back again to make sure that didn't happen. He _needed _to keep his family safe.

Rubbing his throbbing forehead and sighing, he tried to flush the thoughts out of his head. He'd been thinking about this all day. Frankly, he didn't know if he had the strength to think about it anymore.

He put the deli meat and the mayonnaise back in the fridge. He shut the door and turned around, jumping slightly at the sight of something tiptoeing into the kitchen. The blond little boy was clutching a teddy bear in his arm and watching his feet intently, urging them not to make a sound. Trailing behind him was a chocolate lab puppy, his tongue hanging out as he panted in anticipation.

"Sh!" Jake said, turning around to talk to the dog. "Be quiet, Dodger! Mommy will hear us!"

"Or Daddy will hear you." Logan said. Jake turned away from the dog and looked up at his father with big eyes. Having Mommy find him was one thing but Daddy was completely different. It was a lot scarier. "What are you doing up at this time hour, young man?"

"I couldn't sweep." He said. "So Dodger and I comed-"

"Came"

"-came downstairs to get some wader." He said.

"Why couldn't you sleep, buddy?" Logan asked.

"My arm hurts." He said simply. "And it itches real bad too."

"What's wrong with your arm, buddy?" Logan asked, squatting down to his son's level. Jake moved the stuffed animal covering his cast to the other arm and held it up to his father. "How'd that happen?" Logan asked his eyes widening in shock. Thousands of scenarios were running through his head and he didn't like one of them.

"I hitted-"

"Hit" Logan corrected on reflex.

"-hit it on a rock when me and Ellie were sledding." Logan picked him up and sat him in a stool on the island, fussing relentlessly over his injury. "It hurt really bad and Ellie runned inside to get Mommy and then she came outside and tooked me to the hosapal. The doctor tooked pitures of my bones and I gots to see them. They were all bent and one of them had a crack in it so he gave me a shot and then he bended my arm back to normal but it didn't hurt cause they put a ana-an-anastic-"

"Anesthetic?" Logan asked

"That's what I said… and then they put a cast on it but it itches really bad and Mommy said that I couldn't stick stuff in it to scratch it."

"Nope you can't. It might get stuck." Logan said, trying to look down in the cast to make sure there weren't any broken pencils or twigs shoved inside. This must have been what Rory needed to tell him. She should have called and told him to meet them at the hospital. He knew how concerned she must have been. He should have been there.

"I'm thwirsty." Jake said. "Can I have a sip of your drink, Daddy?" Logan glanced over at his glass of scotch and chuckled.

"How bout I make you one of your own, kiddo." Jake nodded and Logan took out a jug of apple juice from the refrigerator. He set it on the counter before grabbing a snifter from the china cabinet and pouring the juice inside. He set the glass down in front of his son and Jake grabbed tightly with his free hand, sipping the juice greedily and sighing with satisfaction as he placed the glass back on the counter.

Logan ruffled his hair before taking a sip of his own drink. "Come on, buddy." He said, picking him up and grabbing his sandwich. Dodger started pawing at Logan's leg, wanting a piece of meat desperately. "Let's go watch a movie." He said, ignoring the dog's begging.

"Really!?!" Jake said with excitement.

"Yep."

"This is the latest I've ever stayed up before!" he exclaimed in his father's arms. "Can we watch Shrek?"

"You bet." Logan said. "Just don't tell your mother." Logan carried Jake into the living room and sat him down on the couch before finding the DVD and putting it in the player. He sat on the couch and it wasn't long before Jake climbed into his lap and rested his tired head on his chest. Dodger imitated the little boy's movements, jumping up on the couch and resting his head on Logan's thigh. As the movie started to play, Logan absentmindedly started to run his fingers through Jake's soft blond hair.

"Daddy?" Jake asked softly, beginning to be overtaken by sleep.

"Yea, kiddo?"

"Are you gonna be home on Cwistmas?" he asked.

"Of course I am, buddy. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're never home anymore." He said with a yawn. "But don't worry. When Mommy tooked me and Ellie to see Santa at the mall I axed him to make sure you were home on Cwistmas."

"Oh Jake…" Logan said, his heart breaking in two. After all of the extra time he was taking making sure that he got this damn lawsuit taken care of to make sure he could always give his family what they needed, he completely forgot that what they needed more than anything was him. "I'm so sorry, buddy. I _promise_ I'll be home for Christmas."

"Santa said he would try. You know what else I axed him for, Daddy?"

"What?"

"A little brother." Logan laughed. "But he said that it was up to you and Mommy."

"I'm not so sure about that one, kiddo. I don't think a little brother is in the cards for a long time."

"Okay…" Jake said, sadly. Within five minutes he was fast asleep, breathing deeply against Logan's chest. Logan stood up, cradling his son in his arms, turned off the TV, and began walking toward the stairs.

"Come on Dodge." He said. The dog titled his head to the side and raised his ears, watching Logan with a questioning look as he stood there waiting for him to follow. "Come on." He repeated. The lab jumped down from the couch and ran up the stairs to Jake's room where he jumped on the bed and settled himself in a ball at the end.

Logan placed Jake in his bed and tucked him in, tightening his blankets snuggly around him. He stuffed his teddy bear into the cocoon with him and kissed his forehead. It was remarkable that he had fallen asleep so fast, although he did have a pretty exciting day. Logan sighed as he watched his son for a moment. He scratched Dodger behind the ears and the puppy happily licked his hand in return.

"Night, Dodger." He whispered. "I'm trusting you to keep an eye on him. You hear me?" The dog snorted as Logan walked toward the door. He turned around again and took one last look at his little boy before slipping out of the room.

He walked down the hall to the master bedroom and slipped into bed. Wrapping an arm around his wife's waist, she unconsciously snuggled into him. He smiled and breathed in her scent, comforted by her mere presence.

"I love you." He whispered, knowing he would get no reply but wanting to say it anyway. "I love you so much.

**TBC…**

* * *


	2. Questions and Unanswers

Omg! Thank you all so much for the reviews! I had such a great response. You all make me so happy. I'm sorry if some of you didn't get a response. For some reason my reviews aren't being sent to my E-mail so it's hard to keep track of who I've replied to and who I haven't. But if you were missed thank you so much! Lol. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy! 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gilmore Girls. Please don't sue me.

**Chapter Two**

**Questions and Un-answers**

It's the little things in life.

That was a true little saying if there ever was one. There were a multiple of little things that could bring a smile to Rory Gilmore's face and make her absolutely love life for example, the smell of coffee in the morning, chocolate, Logan remembering to put the cap back on the toothpaste bottle. This morning it was the smooth, low, sound of a running toilet.

After three years she had forgotten how hypnotizing it could be. Yet, here she was, once again, lost in the entrancing hum as her head rested comfortably on the seat. She refused to close her eyes for fear that she may fall asleep like this. Instead, she sat there staring at the water in the bowl and the shinny porcelain surface underneath it.

She _could_ move, but she knew better. She had too much experience. She knew that with this feeling in her stomach it was only moments until she-

Yep there it was.

With a violent jerk she threw her head forward into the toilet bowl as she emptied the contents of her stomach. When she finished she wiped her mouth with some toilet paper and flushed the toilet, sighing heavily and mentally adding morning sickness to the list of reasons why being pregnant was not a good thing right now.

"Are you sick, Mommy?" a voice asked form the doorway.

Rory looked over and saw her daughter standing there dressed in a Cinderella night gown given to her by her father. Ramón was clutched tightly to her chest and her feet were adorned with fluffy bunny slippers. One of her hands had creeped up to her face and she was rubbing the sleepiness out of her eye. Rory couldn't help but smile as she watched her little girl standing there. Raising a hand to her stomach she mentally added this image to the list of reasons why being pregnant was so wonderful.

"Tommy Robinson said that when he was sick he threwed up all over the carpet in the living room and his Mommy got really mad and said that's why she never wanted to have kids." Ellie rambled as she stood there.

"Well, Tommy Robinson's Mommy is silly, baby." Rory said, standing up and brushing the putrid flavor out of her mouth. Ellie walked over to her and hugged her leg, burying her tired face in her mother's hip. Rory smiled as she reached down the stroked her hair with her free hand. "Having kids is the best thing that could ever happen to someone. I'm so happy that I had you and Jake. You know that right?"

Here she was, in pain and vomiting from pregnancy and she was still happier than Tommy Robinson's mother could ever be. It was strange being on the other side of the fence of private schools. She knew how unattached mother's could be while she was at Chilton, but to actually see them and hear the things they said about their own children all the time never seized to shock her. It almost made her want to pick up all of their children and take them home with her.

The worse thing about the whole situation was that they always looked at her and expected her to understand. For some reason being Mrs. Huntzberger was supposed to mean that all she was interested in was how many Birkin Bags she could accumulate while still using optimum closet space to store all of her Vera Wang ball gowns. Every time she made a snide comment about their mothering skills while pulling out a juice box from her purse to hand to her son they looked at her as if she was alien.

Perhaps she was. Really, it was probably a hell of a lot better to be that way.

"I know." Ellie said, breaking her thinking process. Rory could feel her head moving up and down against her hip, nodding in the affirmative.

"And I'm not sick, sweetheart, I'm all better now. I promise. Sometimes you throw up even when you don't have the flu."

"Okay." Ellie said. "Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Do you have a baby inside you again?" she asked, lifting her head from Rory's side and looking at her mother curiously. Rory dropped her toothbrush on the counter and looked at her daughter with wide eyes. She was six years old. Six years, and yet she was a hell of a lot more observant than her thirty-two year old father.

"Ellie, sweetie, what makes you ask that?" Ellie shrugged and looked down at the floor as she rocked innocently back and forth on her feet.

"It's just last time you said that you told me that Jake was growing in your tummy so I was just wondering if you had another baby growing in your tummy."

"Ellie come here." Rory said as she crouched down to the floor. Ellie leaned into her mother and Rory grabbed her daughter's arms, holding her complete and undivided attention. "This is very important so I need to listen to me okay?"

"Okay."

"Daddy doesn't know that I have another baby growing inside me yet."

"Are you going to tell him?" Ellie asked in a whispered, her eyes wide. Rory couldn't help but laugh. Her daughter's face looked as if she had just found out about a secret governmental conspiracy.

"Of course I'm going to tell him, sweetheart. But I need you to promise me that you won't tell him okay? It's very very important that I tell him myself alright." Rory started stroking her daughter's cheek with her right hand, peering into her innocent eyes and hoping to God that she would understand the importance of this secret.

"Okay, Mommy, I won't tell him I promise." Ellie said with a nod. Rory smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Can I tell Jake?" Rory's face scrunched in apprehension.

"No, sweetie, I don't think that would be such a good idea. He's not very good at keeping secrets is he?"

"No! One time I told him where Grandpa keeps his candy in his office but then he told Cameron and Lizzie and the next time we went over there I went in to get some and all the candy was gone cause they ate all of it and it was all Jake's fault!"

"Sweetie, I don't think your cousins ate all the candy. I think it was just Grandpa's employees." Rory said with a chuckle.

"Oh…"

"But I want you to pinky swear that you will keep this our little secret okay?" Rory said, holding out her pinky.

"Okay!" Ellie nodded her head emphatically as she liked pinky fingers with her mother. Her face was scrunched up in the most serious expression she could possibly make. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes were narrow. Her lips were tightly pressed together and her nod was sharp and decisive. Rory laughed, knowing that she had picked up her grandfather's business face.

"Alright now missy, you go get dressed." Rory said, swatting her on the bottom as she ran out of her bathroom. She watched her daughter trot into her bedroom happily and sighed.

Lord help her.

* * *

Finally after what seemed like an endless wiggle fit, Logan had successfully strapped Jake into his car seat. The boy liked to make his hatred of the device known and sometimes the only way to get him to sit still long enough to buckle him in was bribery. This morning, however, all it took was one sharp threat from his father to snap him in attention. He knew better to mess with Daddy when he was angry.

Jake's displeasures with the car seat were doubled on this fine day though, after having a conversation with his mother about not being able to play on the jungle gym because of his broken arm. He made a fit this morning, wailing about not wanting to go to school. Apparently, the only thing that made going worth while was recess.

Ellie, on the other hand, hadn't been a problem at all. She hoped into the backseat, setting her backpack and her lunchbox to the side, and fastened her seatbelt instantly. Logan smiled at her and leaned over to kiss her forehead gratefully. He closed the back door and walked around to the driver's seat, pulling out his cell phone and pressing the speed dial as he slipped in the car.

"Hey Nick, it's Logan." Logan spoke into the phone as he fastened his seatbelt and pulled out of the garage.

"Daddy, the man on the TV said that it's bad to drive and talk on the cell phone at the same time." Ellie commented from the backseat. Logan threw his arm around the passenger seat and watched out the back window as the car creeped down the driveway, throwing a look at his daughter in the process.

"Well, the man on the TV is right, princess, and when _you_ get _your_ driver's license _you_ should remember that." He said. "But right now Daddy's busy and he needs to talk on the phone so you're not late to school, okay."

"Okay." Ellie said, seemingly satisfied with Logan's answer.

"Listen, Nick, I'm going to be late getting into the office today. I have to take Ellie and Jake to school….Well normally it wouldn't be a that big a deal but experience tells me that once I drop Jake off at his pre-school his teacher is going to steal me away for a fifteen minute discussion on his behavior problems. Isn't that right, buddy?" Logan asked, turning his attention to his son through the rear view mirror as they drove down the street.

"No, Daddy. I've been good! I pwomise!" Jake objected, pulling on the straps of his car seat and worming around, trying to find a way out of it. One of these days he was going to succeed.

"That's what you said last time and she told me that you took the class hamster out of its cage and tried to give it a bath in the water table. Now stop wiggling! Sorry about that, Nick. Just count on me being about a half an hour late. Do you think you can handle the meeting for that long?...Perfect, I owe you one. Alright, I'll talk to you later, man." Logan flipped his cell shut and threw it in the cup holder.

"Daddy, who's Nick?" Ellie asked.

"He's a friend from work, sweetheart."

"Is he who you yell at on the phone all the time?" Logan chuckled.

"No, sweetheart, that's Rob Peterson. He's a lawyer. I don't work with him."

"What's a lawyer?" she asked, curiously. Apparently this was question time. At least this was better than Jake's question time. His questions usually just consisted of an endless string of "Why's". At least Ellie's had some substance.

"A lawyer is a very bad man who's out to steal every penny you have on outrageous fees while not even guaranteeing that the trial you're paying him for will come out in your favor." Logan answered, smiling teasingly at his daughter through the rear view mirror.

"If they're so bad than why do you talk to them?" she asked. Logan raised his eyebrows and tried to think of something to say.

"That's the age old question, sweetheart. No one has been able to answer it yet."

"I thought you said that Uncle Colin was a lawyer." Ellie pointed out. Logan laughed.

"Well, he is but we don't hold that against him."

"Why?" Jake popped in.

"Oh Boy we're just full of questions today aren't we?" Logan said, trying to bring an end to the conversation before Jake asked why the sky was blue.

"Sorry, Daddy." Ellie said.

"It's okay, princess. You can ask me anything you want anytime you want."

"Okay." Ellie said.

Logan turned his attention back to the road. For a few seconds silence filled the car. He thought that the interrogation was finally over. Little did he know that an atomic bomb was about to be dropped.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

"Where do babies come from?"

Had he not already been stopped in front of a red light, Logan would have slammed on the breaks. All color drained from his face as his mouth fell open and he tried desperately to think of something, anything, to say. No words came out, just a jumbled of um's and uh's. What on earth was he supposed to say?

This was supposed to be Rory's job…well technically they hadn't really discussed it yet but he'd always figured that she would talk to Ellie and he would talk to Jake, preferably when he was sixteen years old and most likely not a virgin any longer. That's what his father did with him. It completely negated the point. That was the way he wanted it.

"Um…I…Uh…they…Babies…they…uh…Wh-Why do you want to know, sweetheart?" Ellie shrugged.

"I don't know. I was just wondering. That's all." She said, remembering to keep her Mommy's secret.

"Well, a Mommy and a Daddy make a baby." Logan said, hoping to God that it would satisfy her curiosity. He should have known his own daughter better than that.

"I know that but how?" There was no way out now. This was the end of the line. All hope was gone. So Logan did the only thing he could think to do in order to save himself.

"You know, why don't you ask Mommy, baby. She's better at explaining things than I am."

* * *

"I can't believe you pawned this off on me!" Rory shouted when her husband walked through the garage door later that evening. Logan looked at her in confusion before setting his brief case on the kitchen table and undoing his tie.

"It's good to see you too, Honey." He said sarcastically.

"Don't get cute with me, Logan. I'm not in the mood." Rory stated, waving a plastic stirring spoon in his face. Logan raised his hand in the air in mock surrender and backed away from her.

"Well I'd apologize but I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Logan said.

Rory began to laugh like a mad woman and suddenly Logan started to fear for his life. He had thought that she would be thrilled with the fact that he made it home for dinner. This was the first time in two weeks had he come home before nine o'clock. He had expected a warm welcome complete with a hug and a kiss, maybe even some mind-blowing sex. That didn't seem very likely at the moment.

"Well let me tell you about my day." Rory started, with a sigh. "I threw up a grand total of _three_ times this morning-"

"Are you sick?" Logan asked, his voice growing a concerned tone. Alarms went off in Rory's head as she quickly snapped her head away from his, averting his eyes as much as possible.

"No, I just um…I think I ate something that disagreed with me. I'm fine now." She lied, wishing that she could take her words back.

"Are you sure?" Logan prodded, walking toward her and pressing a hand to her forehead. Rory rolled her eyes and pushed him away.

"Yes, I'm sure. You're changing the subject. I'm trying to yell at you." Rory stated. "Now, where was I…ah yes, then I got a phone call from my favorite person in the world-"

"Osama?"

"-Close, your _mother_."

"Oh boy…"

"She called to remind me, oh so subtly mind you, that Cameron is allergic to peanuts. So I can't use any peanut products for Christmas dinner. Now, many would interpret that phone call as a concerned grandmother worried about her first-born grandchild's health but they don't know Shira. She was calling to check up on me and make sure that I don't ruin the Huntzberger family Christmas, which, may I remind you, has been held at _our_ house for the past _three_ years and I have yet to hospitalize anyone. I am very well aware of my nephew's food allergies."

"I know you are…" Logan interjected.

"So after more Marie Barone comparable condescension she finally hung up and I decided to do some laundry but guess what? The washer is broken! So I called the Maytag repair man guy to come fix it but they can't come for another month or something like that which is completely unbelievable. I have myself two children and a husband. I can't afford to be out of a washer for a month…"

"I see your dilemma."

"So then I call Luke but I realize that we don't live in New Haven anymore. So he can't come fix it because he doesn't have the time to drive _hours_ to New York just to fix our washing machine. So I finally had to go to the laundry mat which I haven't done since my freshman year at Yale! And let me tell you, I _never_ want to do that again. I hate to sound like a snob but how on earth do you expect clothes to get clean there! Exposure to the air alone is enough to make them absolutely filthy again the second you take them out of the machine."

"That paints a lovely picture."

"Then I came home and I got bored so I decided to _vacuum_."

"Why?" Logan asked.

"I don't know! Something strange came over me I guess. But I learned that Central Vacs…yea…not all they're cracked up to be."

"Is that so?"

"Oh yes. Regular vacuum cleaners are a hell of a lot easier to deal with. You have to carry around this giant python like hose and plug it into a different hole in every room and reattach the vacuum cleaner to it every time. And the noise! Oy!"

"Did you just say Oy?"

"And then when I finally finished and put my feet up to relax, the midget's arrived."

"Uh-oh." Logan said.

"Ah yes. I had to take them to the grocery store and Jake threw a colossal temper tantrum in the canned food isle. Luckily I got to him before he could do any damage. When we got home I sent him to his room and he's been up there ever since. It's actually been kind of quiet. I wonder if he's jumped out the window or something."

"No, we've got a few years before the window jumping will be a problem I think." Logan assured while walking up behind his wife and rubbing her shoulders.

"But after all of that, I have yet to tell you what I'm mad at you about."

"Gee and I thought you'd forgotten."

"Oh no, this was the highlight of my day." Rory said. "When we came home, Ellie was helping my put away the groceries and she looks at me and says...Mommy, where do babies come from…"

"Oh…yea…I forgot about that…" Logan said, wincing. He should have known that's where this conversation was heading.

"And then when I ask why she's asking she said that _Daddy_ told her to ask _me_. Now, why on earth would Daddy tell her to ask me? Can you answer that for me, Logan? Because I'm really curious."

"She asked me this morning in the car." Logan explained.

"So you pawned it off on me?" Rory asked, flabbergasted.

"Would you rather me have told her alone?" Logan asked. Rory looked at him for a moment and considered what he was saying. With a sigh, she relaxed.

"Touché."

"I want to know where this came from." Logan said, breaking away from his wife and walking to the cabinet to get a drink. Rory crossed her arms and bit her lip, looking at her feet. "I mean, it's kinda random don't you think? She never needed to know before and now all of a sudden she's asking. Why?"

"Who knows…" Rory said quietly continuing to gaze at her wiggling toes.

"Maybe one of her friend's Moms is pregnant or something…" He continued on.

Here it was. Now was the prefect time to tell him. It would explain her daughter's curiosity. It make her feel better, not having to lie like this. Logan was actually home when the sun was up. He wasn't tired, or stressed. Everything was normal and happy. It was the perfect timing to drop a bombshell like this.

Too bad she just couldn't bring herself to form the words.

"Maybe…"

"If that's the case, I think we should call her and make _her_ explain sex to our six year old daughter! Don't you think she's a little young to be wondering about stuff like this anyway?" Logan asked. Rory couldn't help but smile at his freak out. It was pretty damn cute. It was enough to focus her thoughts on something else for a fraction of a second at least.

"She's not too young to be wondering. We should be happy she's wondering. She's actually thinking. That's a good sign." Rory reminded, walking over to the stove and stirring the pot that had been going unattended.

"Well what are we going to tell her?" Logan asked.

"I don't….know…" Rory said, slumping her shoulders. "We'll figure something out. Maybe there's a book we can get or something."

"A book? What the hell is a book going to do? All it's going to do is tell us what the process is. _That_ we already know. We know it very well. We've made two kids already!"

_Three_, a tiny voice shouted in Rory's head. Once again she was faced with the prefect opportunity to tell him. Her mind was running with day dreams of the conversation she could have right now, at this very moment, telling him that they hadn't made two children. They had made three. She could see his face lighting up. She could see him running up to her and picking her up in his arms, twirling her around in a circle. He looked happier than she could possibly imagine.

But that wasn't what was stopping her. What was stopping her was the second vision, the image of his mouth handing open and his wrinkled brow. His hand went to hold his throbbing head as he strived for something to say, finally deciding on _"How the hell could you let this happen?"_ His shoulders tensed and he banged his fist on the counter, needing to release some of his stress.

She couldn't tell him.

What if he got mad?

"It's worth trying, Logan. I can go to Border's tomorrow and look to see if they have anything useful. I'm not just walking blindly into the lion's den, alright. We could screw her up forever."

"Rory, we don't need a book to tell us how to raise our kids." Logan stated emphatically.

"Please, Logan, just…just let me do this okay." Rory sighed, closing her eyes.

"Okay fine." Logan agreed half heartedly. "What are you making?" he asked, dropping the subject and walking up behind her. Rory leaned into him and sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Instant mashed potatoes." She answered. Logan looked around the kitchen, noticing that was the only pot in sight.

"Is that it? I haven't eaten like this since I got my tonsils taken out when I was eight."

"No, that's not it. These are going with the ribs I ordered from the barbeque place a couple blocks form here." Logan grunted in approval. "I thought you'd like it." Rory said with a smile. "I thought about cooking something but then I realized that with my luck today I'd probably set something on fire."

"Yea, I don't think our insurance agent would be too happy with you burning down the house only months after we moved in." Logan agreed with a teasing smile.

"I was just not cut out for this housewife stuff." Rory explained with exasperation.

"Well, you should be hearing from the Times any day now." Logan assured. "They'd be crazy to pass up an applicant like you Miss Yale editor."

Rory looked guilty down at her feet. For some reason they seemed so entrancing to her this evening. How was she going to tell him this? This was huge. This was insane. She knew he would be mad about this…and she'd have no way to explain herself without giving everything away. She wasn't ready for that yet.

"Actually I heard from them today…" Rory said, cringing as she watched Logan's face light up.

"You did!?!" he cheered. "That's great. When do you start?"

"I don't." she said, as she began stirring the mashed potatoes furiously.

"What do you mean you don't? You didn't get the job?" Logan asked in disbelief. He knew that she was the best applicant they had going. She was a shoe-in. There was no way they picked someone else over her.

"No I got the job…" she said softly, avoiding eye contact with him as best she could.

"What do you mean? I don't understand."

"I turned it down…"

"What do you mean you turned it down?" Logan asked incredulously. "This is the New York Times, Rory! This is your dream. It's the best paper in the country!"

"Well that's arguable…" She began, only to get snapped off by Logan.

"Don't change the subject. You wanted this so bad a week ago. Why all of a sudden are you turning it down?"

"I just…" Rory sighed, trying to think of something to say. "I just don't think that right now is the best time for me to be working that's all."

"Why not?" Logan asked. "You took some time off when Jake was born which was perfectly understandable but he's in pre-school now. You just said yourself how much you hate staying at home all day…I don't see what the problem is here. How could the timing possibly be wrong?"

"It just is, Logan, okay! I don't want to talk about this anymore!" Rory shouted just as the doorbell rang. "That's dinner. Excuse me."

With that Rory left the room, leaving Logan standing alone in the kitchen. He was leaning against the island, in desperate need of a support. He didn't know what was going on. He had no idea why all of a sudden she didn't want to work. But he was going to find out. Something was wrong here, something that she wasn't telling him.

TBC…


	3. Take These Broken Wings

Alright, speedy update! Don't get used to it. Lol. Fall break is over as of tomorrow so, unfortunately, my life will start up again. Thank you all so much for your reviews though. Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! 

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Chapter Three**

**Take These Broken Wings**

As the first feeling of consciousness poured over her, Rory felt a kiss being pressed into the crook of her neck. She gave a light moan and lifted her hand from the bed, colliding it with the exposed skin of Logan's side. She didn't open her eyes for fear that this might be a dream. She really didn't want it to end.

His kisses started moving up her neck line, drawing closer and closer to her ear. Once they reached their target he began to suck lightly on her earlobe, causing her to give another moan of appreciation.

"Happy Anniversary." He whispered into her ear. Rory smiled brightly and her eyes finally opened, taking in the picture of her shirtless husband hovering over her.

"Happy Anniversary." She replied, moving her hands so that they were roaming up and down his sides. Logan leaned down, capturing her lips in a soft but passionate kiss. As his tongue entered her mouth she let out a tiny whimper and moved her hands to his hair. She held his head there, forbidding him from moving and deepened the kiss. But as Logan's hands creeped under her shirt, she grabbed them, pushing them down and breaking away from his kiss.

"No." she said, shaking her head. Logan's face took on a pathetic, yet-to Rory- extremely funny, look.

"No?" he asked in disbelief. "You're forbidding me sex on our anniversary. That's cruel, even for you, Gilmore."

"Huntzberger." She reminded him. He smiled. "It's been Huntzberger for what…six years now…?" Rory said, raising a finger to her chin and looking up to the ceiling with a pensive expression.

"Seven…" Logan said, correcting her. Rory's face grew a wicked smile and she turned to face him again, chucking at his annoyed face.

"Oh yea…seven…huh…how about that."

"You're teasing me." Logan pointed out, smiling an amused smile. His fingers were running along Rory's lower stomach, ready at any moment to start tickling her in revenge. He could feel Rory's stomach tense as she tried to wiggle out of his grip. "You're refusing to have sex with me and now you're teasing me…"

"The kids are _right_ down the hall!" Rory protested with a laugh. "You'll have plenty of time for that later when we're at the Vineyard mister." She reprimanded, shoving him lightly off of her. Logan took the hint and rolled onto his side. He propped his head up on his elbow and Rory mirrored his actions so that they were lying down face to face.

"Ah yes, the weekend at the Vineyard, completely child free…" Logan said, with a longing tone, reaching out to run his fingers through her hair.

"Completely _work_ free." Rory added.

"Yea that too." Logan said accentuating his gratitude. He hadn't been able to take time off in months. Finally, he had an excuse to take a break from all the stress. "I can't wait." He said. "You know what I'm going to do the first thing we get there?"

"I think I have an idea." Rory said with a seductive smile.

Logan smiled back and leaned in to kiss her. "Well I was going to say go to the gym but I'll take what I can get…" Their lips were millimeters apart when suddenly a shrill scream was heard from the hallway. They both drew apart, looking at the door with raised eyebrows.

"I'll see what that is about." Logan said, trowing the covers off of himself and pulling on a tee-shirt as he walked out the door. Rory sat up in bed, watching him as he left, wondering what on earth was going on. She was about to get up and follow him when she felt the familiar sensation of nausea come over her. Throwing a hand over her mouth she ran to the bathroom.

* * *

Closing the bedroom door behind him, Logan ventured out into the hallway where the bloodcurdling scream was heard. He saw his children, standing outside Jake's bedroom door. Ellie's face was red from crying and Dodger was clutched tightly to Jake's chest, his legs sticking out in the air and his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He paused for a moment, collecting himself before facing the little terrors.

"What on earth is going on out here?" He asked. The kids snapped their attention to him and both of them started screaming stories his way. Even Dodger added a bark and a growl in every now and then. Logan's eyes widened and he held out his hands in defense of the verbal onslaught. "Whoa, whoa, whoa…" he said, silencing them. "One at a time." He walked between the feuding siblings and kneeled in front of his hysterical daughter. "What happened, sweetheart?"

Ellie sniffed and huffed as she looked up at him, trying as hard as she could to compose herself. Logan reached out and ran his hands up and down her arms soothingly.

"D-D-D-Dodg-Dodger h-he eat-eated he eated R-Ramón!"

"Nuh-uh!" Jake shouted, causing the dog in his arms to bark.

"Yes h-he d-did!" Ellie shouted back, her voice taking on a shriekingly high pitch. Logan closed his eyes briefly, trying to block out he offensive sounds.

"No he didn't, Daddy! She's lying!" Jake shouted.

"N-No I'm n-not!"

"Yes you are! Dodger didn't eat him! He just chewed him up!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, alright." Logan said. "And, Jacob, don't hold Dodger like that you're hurting him." The boy obeyed, placing the puppy on the ground. Dodger walked over to Ellie and started licking her leg. She jerked away from him and yelled at him to go away, burying face in her father's chest.

"Oh…now, come on. Don't be mean to Dodger. You're hurting his feelings." Logan said, reaching out and grabbing the dog, holding him tightly in the bend of his elbow. Ellie sniffed and refused to look the puppy in the face. "Now, let me see Ramón."

Ellie held out her coveted stuffed penguin she had cherished from birth and Logan assessed the damage. One of the wings was missing and the right eyeball was hanging off, dangling on a long string. Ellie started to cry all over again and Logan gathered her in his other arm, balancing the dog and his daughter as best he could.

"It's okay, baby. We can get you a new one." He said, rubbing soothing circles in her back.

"NOO!" Ellie shrieked, causing Logan to flinch. "I d-d-don't wa-want a n-new o-one!"

"Okay, okay." Logan soothed, kissing her forehead and continuing to rub her back. "Where's his wing?" Jake walked over to him and held out the black triangular wing. "Thanks, buddy." He said, taking the plush appendage from his hand. "We can fix him." He assured. "We'll take him with us to Gram's house and he'll be as good as new. Everything will be okay, sweetheart."

"You promise?" Ellie asked, lifting her face to look at him. Logan smiled sadly and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"I promise." He assured. "Now, Dodger's very sorry. What do you want to say to him?" Logan asked, holding out the puppy to his daughter.

"I forgive you, Dodger." She said picking up the puppy and holding him awkwardly as he tried to wiggle out of her grasp. Dodger licked her face and she started to laugh. Logan took the dog from her and kissed her forehead one more time.

"Okay, now you go get dressed! We're leaving in an hour." Ellie ran off into her bed room. "And you…" Logan said to Jake as he placed the puppy back on the floor and stood up. "You need to get a bath since you cleverly avoided one last night."

"No!" Jake argued as Logan picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. "Daddy put me down!" Jake pounded his left fist on Logan's back as hard as he could and started to kick his feet, desperately trying to pry himself out of his father's grip.

"Hey, Ace!" Logan yelled.

"Yea?" Rory answered from their bedroom.

"Where's the saran wrap?"

* * *

"Alright, let me see the patient." Lorelai said as she opened the front door. Rory smiled and patted Ellie on the head as she held out Ramón to her grandmother. Lorelai took the stuffed penguin from her hands along with the broken wing and nodded pensively. "Alright, I think we can fix this. I need some black thread and stuffing stat!" Ellie ran inside to Lorelai's sewing table and starting looking for the necessary items.

Rory and Jake walked into the foyer where Rory dropped two suitcases on the floor. In Jake's hand was a leash attached the Dodger's collar. The little boy bent down and took it off, handing it to Rory who hung it up on the coat rack.

"Grams?" Jake asked, as Rory started to strip him of his coat.

"Yea, kiddo?" Lorelai asked.

"Is Ramón gonna need a cast like me?" he asked.

"A cast! Let me see that bad boy!" Lorelai said, squatting down and waiting to see her grandson's battle wound. Jake held out his arm and Lorelai held it in her hand. "Well I think I have just the thing to make that the coolest cast that anyone ever did see." She said. Jake smiled in excitement as Lorelai reached into her back pocket and took out a shiny sticker.

"Spiderman!" Jake cheered, as she placed it on the center of his cast. Jake moved his arm around, watching in amazement as the holographic surface changed colors in the light.

"Oh boy! Wait till Daddy sees that." Rory said with a smile, as she hung up his black down coat.

"Well they didn't have any Batman stickers. I checked." Lorelai teased, earning a smile from Rory.

"Well I'm sure he'll appreciate that." She said with a laugh. "What so you say to Grams, Jacob."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, kiddo." Lorelai said with chuckle as she ruffled his hair and watched him disappear into the living room with Dodger fresh on his heels.

"Thanks again for doing this, Mom." Rory said, walking into the kitchen with her mother and setting Dodger's Kibble on the counter.

"Are you kidding I'm happy too! You had to go and move to New York and a barely see the little monsters anymore. That and I've been thinking about getting another dog. I'm using Dodger as a test run. Now, what do you think? If I get another dog should I name it Sammy Davis or Frank Sinatra?"

"You're going to name it after a singer again?" Rory asked.

"Well I have to keep with the tradition."

"You had one dog named Paul Anka. That's hardly a tradition."

"That's not true. About a week after he died I got a gold fish and named it Judy Garland. But it died few hours later so I didn't tell you about it."

"I like Frank better." Rory said, ignoring her mother's revelation about the goldfish and grabbing a cookie from the counter. Lorelai nodded considering it for a moment.

"So where's Logan?" she asked looking around for her son-in-law.

"He dropped us off and went to Doose's to get some supplies." Rory explained.

"Have you told him yet?" Lorelai asked.

"Told him what?" Rory asked, looking to the floor.

"That God came to you in your sleep and told you that the end of the world was coming and now you have to spend millions of dollars on gopher wood and buying the Bronx Zoo." Rory rolled her eyes and sighed.

"No I haven't told him, yet." Rory admitted. "Though it's funny, I did add Noah to the name list a few days ago."

"Aw, cute, I like it." Lorelai said with a smile. Rory nodded. "You have to tell him, kid. I mean he's going to find out once your stomach inflates and a baby pops out."

"I know…I was going to tell him tonight. It'll just be the two of us, no work, no kids. I think it's the best this way. I'm just…I'm so worried about what he'll say."

"Why?" Lorelai asked. "You already have two kids, Ror, two kids that he loves. He's so amazing with them. How could you think that he would be upset over this?"

"Because, we agreed that we didn't want to have another baby for a long time. He's constantly reminding me to take my pill and look what good that did…And with everything going on right now he doesn't need the added stress."

"Oh yea…how's that going?" Lorelai asked with a concerned voice and a wince.

"I don't know!" Rory shouted. "I have absolutely _no_ idea. He refuses to talk about it with me. Every time I bring it up he gets all closed and tense and he tells me that he doesn't want to think about it. He's thought about it all day. He just wants to relax at home. And I'm sitting there worried about whether or not I'll be able to pay the bills next month because I have absolutely _no_ idea if it's looking good for us or for them and…_God_…I'm just…I'm scared."

"I know…"

"What am I supposed to say when I tell him that we have another baby on the way? Do you realize how much money we could lose from this? We might not be able to afford another baby! How am I supposed to add one more life onto the list of reasons why he should be working himself into the ground?"

"Kid, you'll get through this. You have one of the best lawyers on the East Coast working for you. This isn't the first libel suit the company has been through since you got married…"

"Well it's the biggest." Rory said. "And it's the first Logan's had to deal with alone."

"Mitchum's still AWOL huh?" Lorelai asked.

"Yep…" Rory sighed and buried her face in her hands. "How am I supposed to tell him, Mom?"

"I don't know, kid." Lorelai said. "But you have to tell him. I know the timing isn't the best and I know he's stressed and you're stressed and you're concerned about whether or not you'll be able to handle another baby. But…the fact is, regardless of the time and the circumstances…there _is_ another baby…"

"I know…"

"You can't ignore it, Rory. It's here, right now. It's real. It's growing inside you as we speak and the longer you delay telling him the harder you're making it for yourself."

"I know…"

"Grams! I found the thread!" Ellie called from the living room. Lorelai turned to the living room door and called back to her granddaughter. When she looked back at Rory her heart broke at her solemn expression.

"Everything will be okay." Lorelai assured, gathering her daughter in her arms and giving her a hug before walking into the living room to fix Ramón. Rory stayed in the kitchen and folded her arms across her chest. She sighed and looked to the ceiling, thinking about her mother's words.

* * *

"The view is so beautiful." Rory said as she leaned into her husband's embrace, outside on the deck. The sun was just now going down, casting an orange glow on the ocean in front of them. "No matter how many times we come here I love it more and more every time." She said. Logan ran his hands up and down her arms trying to warm her from the cold air.

"Well I love taking you here." Logan replied as he planted a series of kisses along her neck. "Come on…" he said, leading her back into the house. He pulled a chair out from the dining room table and gestured for her to take a seat. Rory smiled and complied. Her grin grew as she looked at the table he had set up.

All the chairs had been moved aside save for two which faced each other. Their plates were set on a white table runner that was bunched together on the floor. It was meant to extend over the table vertically, but to create a more intimate setting Logan had placed it on horizontally. In the center was a small bouquet of roses surrounded by votive candles that covered the entire expanse of the long dining table.

Logan walked around and took his place across from her. She leaned forward as he sat down and immediately began massaging his leg with her foot. Logan grinned back at her and reached into a sliver bucket at his side.

"Champagne?" he asked. Rory opened her mouth and sat up straight as Logan took the glass from her place setting.

"Oh…um…Logan…I…I'm not thir-" she stopped herself, shaking her head in anger. She wasn't going to do this any longer. She was tired of lying. She was tired of thinking up stupid excuses. Her mother was right. She needed to tell him. Right now. She needed to finally let it out.

"I can't, Logan." She said, firmly.

"Why not? It's not like we have to drive anywhere. We don't have to worry about anything at all. We can get a drunk and wild as we want. We don't have any kids. We don't have any responsibilities. All there is is me and you a big king sized bed and an endless supply of alcohol." He said with a chuckle, unwinding the clamp on the bottle. It was his turn to brush his foot along her leg as he smiled suggestively at her and started to pull at the cork.

"Logan, I'm pregnant."

With a jerk of his hand, Logan finally wiggled the cork free, sending it flying through the air into the wall across from him. It collided with a picture and sent it tumbling to the ground, crashing and breaking the glass into thousands of pieces.

Rory jumped and screeched in surprise and she turned around to see the broken picture frame lying on the ground. Bringing a hand to her heart, she turned to face Logan who was staring at her with wide eyes. The champagne was flowing out of the bottle, running over his hand and spilling onto the floor but he didn't seem to notice. All he could do was stare at him.

"You...You're pregnant…You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding…" Logan said. Rory closed her eyes and hung her head low. This is what she was afraid of. She could feel the tears stinging at the back of her eyes and escaping through her closed eyelids.

He was mad. He was angry. She shouldn't have told him. She shouldn't have ruined this perfect moment, this perfect dinner on their anniversary. She should have waited. Now he was angry and their whole weekend was ruined. Their anniversary was ruined.

"Rory…are you…are you crying? Why are you crying?" Logan asked. She opened her eyes and wiped her tears away with her napkin. She started shaking her head and looked down at her plate.

"I'm so sorry, Logan. This is all my fault. I don't know how it happened. I must have forgotten to take the pill. I was trying so hard to be careful…"

"Rory…"

"No, don't please. Don't yell at me. I know you're angry, okay. I just…I can't deal with you yelling at me right now."

"Angry? Rory I'm not…I'm not angry." Rory's head finally whipped up to face him. "Why would I be angry?" he asked, reaching out across the table and grabbing her hand in his. He held on tightly as he felt her trying to free her hand from his grip. When she finally relaxed he started stroking his thumb over her fingertips.

"Because…I…I'm pregnant, Logan. I'm pregnant and it's all my fault…"

"It takes two to tango, Ace." He said with a soft chuckle.

"You're not mad?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully.

"No I'm not mad…" Logan said, dismissing the thought as if it were the most outrageous statement in the world. It was. He could never be mad about having another child. "I'm a little…um…surprised. I wasn't expecting it…"

"You're not happy…" Rory cut him off.

"Rory…" Logan started, squeezing her hand and forcing him to look her in the eye. "Of course I'm happy. I love you. I love Ellie. I love Jake. And love…little no-name in there…why are you being like this?" he asked.

"I don't know…" Rory said. "I was just so afraid that with everything that's been going on you'd be upset…"

"Ace, I know things are tough right now. But you should never have hesitated to tell me about this. It's finally something to make me happy. Finally some good news that outweighs all the crap." Logan said with a laugh. "Is this why you turned down the job at the Times?" Rory nodded and sniffed, wiping her crying eyes once again.

"You know you don't have to do that…" Logan said. "You don't have to give up your dream job just because you're pregnant. You can do both."

"And what happens when the baby is born, Logan?" Rory asked.

"We can get a nanny."

"What if we can't afford a nanny then, Logan?" Rory reminded. Logan leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Even if this all works out I don't want to leave my newborn child with a stranger. I…I want to be there. I want to see its first smile and its first laugh. I don't want to miss out on anything. The New York Times will be there for hundreds of years. Our children won't. We only have a limited amount of time until they're all grown up and in college and getting married. I want to be there with them."

"I know." Logan said. "I just don't want you to regret turning this down."

"I'd regret missing out on the first years of my child's life more." Logan sighed and looked across the table at his wife. She had finally stopped crying and now she was sitting there, looking even more beautiful than she had been just five minutes ago.

"So you're really pregnant." He said. Rory nodded.

"I'm really pregnant." For the first time since she told him Logan broke our into a huge grin. She jumped up from the table and grabbed his car keys fro his pocket.

"Where are you going?" Rory asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm going to the store. I'm gonna get some sparkling grape juice. We need to celebrate!" Rory smiled at him. "But before I go…" Logan said, reaching into his other pocket and pulling out a rectangular light blue box. Rory smiled and opened it, revealing a silver chain bracelet with a heart dangling off the clasp. In the top right hump of the heart there was a small white diamond that sparkled brightly in the candle light.

"Logan…it's beautiful. Thank you so much." Rory said as he placed the bracelet on her wrist. "I left your present at home…"

"You've given me more than enough, Rory." Logan said, leaning over and placing a hand on her stomach. She sniffed as tears started to form in her eyes again. Logan smiled and kissed her, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"Happy Anniversary, Ace." Logan kissed her one more time. "I'll be right back." He said as he walked toward the front door. He threw on his coat and opened the door, jingling the keys in his hand. He was halfway outside when he froze.

"What? Logan, what's wrong?" Rory asked as he stood there. Logan turned around slowly and looked at her with wide eyes.

"It's all your fault..." he started. Rory opened her mouth in surprise. She thought he was okay with this. Just seconds ago he had seemed so happy and now he was blaming her...

"It's your fault. You're the reason."

"What are you talking about Logan? You-"

"You're telling her where babies come from! It's your fault she asked! And to think you got mad at _me _for telling her to ask _you_! No, no...you're doing it. You're doing it all by yourself!" Logan dramatically slammed the door behind him leaving Rory laughing in the dining room.

She walked over to the couch and pulled out _The Catcher in the Rye_ which she had been neglecting for the past few weeks. Opening the page to where it was book-marked, she began to read.

_I don't even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it. _

**TBC...**


	4. Straw into Gold

I know what you're all thinking…"Well it's about damn time!" Yes, that it is. I can't tell you how sorry I am about the delay. Let's just say that last week was the week from hell. I didn't have a second to even sit down and watch TV let alone write something. I was using all my muse's energy on my art projects that were due WAY too soon. The good news is that since it's finally DONE I can focus more on my stories, which I did! Make A Wish should be updated within a few days as well. : D So…thank you all so, so, much for your reviews! I love you guys!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Chapter Four**

**Straw into Gold**

"You know what's kinda sad?" Logan asked as he and Rory stepped into the elevator at the hospital. In his hands was the first sonogram of their third child and he had been squinting at it for the past five minutes.

"What?" Rory asked with a chuckle as she pressed the button that would take them to the nursery in the pediatrics wing.

"This is the third time we've gotten one of these pictures…" Rory lifted an eyebrow at him.

"And that's a sad thing?" she asked, slowly.

"You didn't let me finish…" Logan reprimanded teasingly. "Now, as I was going to say, before I was so _rudely_ interrupted…." Rory rolled her eyes at him and looked away. "Is that this is the third one of these pictures that I've seen and yet I _still _have no idea what the hell I'm looking at."

"It's called a baby, Logan, or a fetus if you want to get technical."

"My, my, we sure are cheeky today aren't we?" Logan asked. Rory smiled in response. "I just meant that it doesn't look like anything."

"Yes it does!" Rory exclaimed, snatching the picture from his hands. She held it out far enough so that they could both see it and gestured to the tiny baby featured in the middle. "See…it…it…looks… like a lima bean."

"Didn't you say the same thing about Jake?" Logan asked with a smile. Rory shook her head.

"Nope. Jake looked like a peanut. Big difference." Logan laughed. "Hey! Maybe this one will actually look like me! The extreme differences between the lima bean and the peanut suggest that that _may_ just be the case."

"Oh come on, Ellie looks like you." Logan pointed out.

"No she doesn't." Rory said as if it were absurd. "She looks like you. She has your _everything_."

"She has my hair…" Logan said. "But she has your eyes, and your nose and…"

"Yea, yea, yea…the hair's all that really matters though." Logan opened his mouth, ready to tell her that she was insane. "I want a brunette! I'm tired of reproducing the weaker breed!" Rory teased, poking him in the chest.

"That's hair-ism, Ace!" Logan said, feigning offense as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out, making their way toward the nursery to pick up their son.

"It's the hard truth of reality, Logan." She teased with a smile. "Oh…by the way, I called my grandparents and told them we wanted to have dinner with them soon."

"Why?" Logan asked.

"Oh…I don't know…to tell them about the baby maybe…"

"Hey that rhymed!"

"Logan…" Rory reprimanded. He groaned.

"When?" he asked with a melodramatic sigh.

"This Friday or next Friday. You pick."

"Alright…let's go ahead and do it this Friday. Get it over with." Logan said.

"We need to tell your parents too." She reminded.

"Oh look at that…the nursery!" Logan exclaimed. Rory rolled her eyes and let the subject drop. She opened the door to a playroom full of children and Logan went to sign Jake out.

She spotted Jake sitting on the floor next to some toy dinosaurs and smiled at him as he interacted with the other kids around him. He was a social butterfly…well maybe Logan would prefer she call him a social horsefly or…hornet…or something a little more manly…but the fact remained that he was able to make friends with anyone very quickly, just one more trait to add to the list of mini-Logan. He looked up eventually and smiled brightly when he saw his mother.

"Mommy!" he said, running up to her and clinging to her leg.

"I sweetheart." She said. "Did you have fun?"

"We had a little separation anxiety for a while, especially when he had to get his cast off but after a few minutes he did fine." A nurse said with a smile, walking over to Rory. Rory smiled down at him and played with his hair. "I was really surprised with the way he interacted with the other kids. Most of the others are children of the doctors and nurses here so they know each other and they've been here before but he didn't have any problems jumping in there and making friends."

Rory was about to comment when she was interrupted by laugh coming from the front desk. Glancing in that direction she saw Logan laughing with a couple of the nurses and doctors behind the desk. She looked back at the nurse in front of her and smiled.

"Yea…he takes after his father…" The nurse laughed.

"Yes, I can see that. Alright well, Dr. Stevenson wanted me to tell you that Jake's arms healed perfectly but it's still a little weak so he'll need to wear this brace for a while." She gestured to the black brace on Jake's arm. "They're a lot easier than casts. You can take them off before he takes a bath and put them right back on again. Give that a week or two and he should be fine."

"Alright thank you."

"You're welcome, dear." She said with a smile. "Goodbye Jake. It was nice meeting you."

"Bye." Jake said. Rory picked him up and walked over to Logan, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around and Jake broke out into a huge smile. "Daddy!"

"Hey kiddo!" Logan said. Jake leaned forward, holding his arms out so that he could be held by his father. "You know what, buddy, why don't you just stay with Mommy? I have to go back to work anyway."

"You have to go to work?" Rory asked in surprise. She should have known… "I thought you were going to come home with us." She said, trying to hide the sadness from her voice. Logan sighed.

"I want to but I just have so much shhh-tuff piled up on my desk that needs to be taken care of." Rory nodded and looked at the floor.

"Alright, I'll see you when you get home." She said with a weak smile.

"Don't wait up for me, Ace. It'll probably be pretty late."

"Right…I figured." She said with another lame nod. She offered a tight smile and leaned forward briefly to kiss him, much to the dismay of the child in her arms. "I love you."

"I love you too" Logan said. "You too, kiddo." He ruffled Jake's hair. "See you later."

"Bye." Rory watched as Logan took off in the opposite direction, pulling out his cell phone to call Frank for a ride back to work. She sighed and squeezed Jake who had a huge frown on his face. "Come on, let's go pick up your sister from school."

* * *

"There sat the poor miller's daughter, without the sli-slightest idea how anyone could spin straw into gold. For the life of her she did not know what to do. She grew more and more fright-frightened, and then she be-began to weep. S-sud-suddenly the door sprang open and a tiny man ste-stepped in."

Rory sat on the couch across from her mother and Luke, smiling as she watched her daughter read the book on top her grandfather's lap. Richard's face bared a wide smile, beaming with pride at every word uttered from the little girl's mouth. Rory's heart began to swell at the scene, but she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness as she wondered what she and her grandfather might have had if she had only had a relationship with them sooner.

"She really is something." Emily muttered from her chair. Rory smiled and looked down at the drink in her hand. "You should be very proud of that girl."

"We are." Rory replied with a smile and a nod. "She's reading at a third grade level."

"Well that doesn't surprise me. What with your and Logan's English abilities combined she'll be the best in her class."

"I can read too!" Jake exclaimed from his seat on his mother's lap. Rory smiled at him and attempted to straighten out his unruly hair. Having two children with their father's hair, Rory finally believed that Logan didn't use as much product as people believed he did.

"You can? That's great buddy." Luke said with a smile.

"We're _learning_." She explained. "He's just mastered cat, bat, rat…"

"Hat…" Lorelai chimed in, gaining the attention of everyone in the circle. "I was sensing a pattern." She continued. "So where's Logan?"

"He's…Well, I don't know where he is. He's probably just held up at the office…again." Rory said, swirling in her drink around in her hand. She had wanted him to be here. She didn't want to tell her grandparents about the newest addition onto the family without him. Although, it would probably go over better if she did. The past two times that they had told them she was pregnant Richard would glare daggers at him throughout the entire night. It seemed that even though the couple was married he still couldn't stand the thought of his precious granddaughter having sex.

Still…Rory wanted him here, if not to help her tell the news than to just be here with her, just be here one night. One night out of the entire week was all she wanted. She just wanted him to be with her. Maybe she was being selfish. After all there were more important things for him to be worrying about than her loneliness.

"How was your anniversary?" Emily asked, glancing inconspicuously at the bracelet on her wrist. Rory noticed and couldn't suppress the urge to touch it.

"It was wonderful. We went to the Vineyard and just…well…spent some time together."

"Was it beautiful?" Emily asked her eyes wide with excitement.

"I'm sure the bedroom was." Lorelai muttered, receiving a glare form her mother and an eye roll from her husband.

"Mom!" Rory objected.

"Honestly Lorelai, that was hardly appropriate."

"What? Come on, Mom. They're young. They're in love. They had a whole house all to themselves with no kids and no work. What do you think they did?"

"Lorelai…Let's not talk about that at dinner please." Luke said tersely, not wanting to imagine the more intimate details of his step-daughter's marriage.

"What did you do, Mommy?" Jake asked, intrigued. Rory glared at her mother, shook her head and turned her attention back to her grandmother.

"Yes, Grandma, it was beautiful." She said, changing the subject and treating her mother's outburst as if it had never happened. Emily continued to rave about the Vineyard while Rory's thoughts drifted away.

Staring at the bracelet on her hand she couldn't help but wonder why Logan wasn't here yet. She would throw an occasional glace and the door every minute or so to see if he was making his way inside. Her hopes were crushed every time the door didn't open. She looked at the clock almost every two minutes, a pattern that both her mother and her grandmother had noticed but tried to ignore. As thirty minutes passed by, Logan was still no where to be found, and dinner was about to be served.

* * *

"So, Rory, I feel like I haven't talked to you all night. What's going on in your life? Have you heard from the fine folks at the New York Times yet?" Richard asked, pausing for a moment with his eating and looking at his granddaughter with interest. Rory, who was currently leaning over Jake's plate and cutting his pot roast into tiny pieces, looked up at him and wrinkled her brow.

"Actually, yes, I did." Rory said. "Eat your carrots." She commanded her son, who extended his arms, pushing away from the table and whined.

"Well, what did they say?" He asked, laughing at his great-grandson's antics. "Did you get the job?"

"Yes, I did." Richard laughed jovially.

"I knew you would, my dear. They would be crazy to pass you up. When do you start?"

Well…now was the time. The perfect opening was right here. Biting her lip, Rory threw one last hopeful glance at the entrance to the dining room, hoping beyond hope that Logan would somehow appear in the nick of time and rescue her. He used to be so good at that…

Closing her eyes for a moment, Rory willed her self not to cry. It was strange, what once would have sent her seething now made her want to break into tears. Her hormones were raging like crazy and her husband was hardly ever around to help her. She opened her eyes and looked at her mother, hoping to gather some courage. Lorelai noticed her daughter's apprehension and smiled at her sympathetically, offering a shrug in the process. Rory turned her attention back to her grandfather.

"I…um…I actually turned it down, Grandpa." She said solemnly.

"You turned it down!?!" he boomed, making Jake and Ellie's eyes go wide. "Why on earth would you do such a thing?" At that moment, Rory lost all control of her emotions, unable to overcome the rapidly flowing chemicals in her body. She gasped, covering her eyes with her hands, and cried eliciting hiccup-like gasps every few seconds. Luke, who was sitting on her right, across from Lorelai started to rub a soothing hand up and down her back, hoping to calm her.

"Rory…" Emily started, concerned. "Why are you crying?"

"Mommy…" Jake started timidly from his seat next to her. He had never seen his mother cry before. Truth be told it was slightly unnerving. Rory looked down at him and smiled.

"I'm okay, baby." She said before turning her attention to the rest of the table. "I'm okay, really. I am. It's just…It's just hormones. I guess."

"Hormones?" Richard asked, careful to keep his voice at a softer tone. He exchanged a quick glance with Emily, whose face had broken out into a huge grin.

"Rory, are you pregnant?" Rory simply nodded, wiping her eyes on her napkin. Pushing her chair away from the table, she stood up and threw her napkin on the table.

"Excuse me, everyone. I need to use the restroom." She walked out the dining room, leaving a speechless table behind. Emily, who was still unable to suppress the sheer joy coursing through her veins, clapped her hands together.

"This is so wonderful!" she exclaimed happily.

With a disgusted glance at her mother, Lorelai rolled her eyes and excused herself from the table. She walked the bathroom and found her daughter lying in the Jacuzzi tub sobbing. With a sympathetic sigh, she kicked off her heels and climbed in taking position next to her. Rory shook in her embrace and she held her closer, running a hand up and down her arms.

"Oh kid…" She started. "He has a good reason. I promise. He has a good reason."

* * *

Glancing at the clock on the wall one more time, Logan could feel the worry and dread about to erupt within him. Where was she? It was the only coherent thought running through his head. It was almost midnight. There wasn't a note. There wasn't a message on the machine. There wasn't anything at all. She was gone without a trace and the kids were gone too.

He had come home a little more than an hour ago, ready to fall into bed when he realized that his wife and children were no where to be found. For the past forty five minutes he's been pacing the kitchen floor, trying to get a hold of her. He had called her cell phone, her mother, her mother's cell phone, Paris, Lane, Lucy, Olivia…he'd exhausted absolutely every one of his options. He couldn't find her.

When he heard the door knob of the garage door turn it was as if the heavens had opened up above him. Breathing a deep breath of relief, he turned to see Ellie stumble into the kitchen, clutching her blanket and Ramón. Without even a word, the little girl walked over to her father and hugged his leg tightly, burring her tired face in his pants.

"Hi, Cinder-Ellie." He greeted softy, combing his fingers through her messy hair. "Are you sleepy?" He could feel her head bobbing up and down against his thigh. "Okay…you go get in bed, alright. I'll come tuck you in soon." Ellie trudged off, wiping her eyes with her fist and letting out a loud yawn.

Logan heard a car door slam and walked toward the garage, peeking through the door just in time to startle his wife who was rounding the just turning the corner.

"Logan!" she exclaimed in a whisper, carefully trying to avoid waking the sleeping little boy in her arms. "You scared me to death."

"I could say the same for you." He retorted through a hard whisper. "_Where _have you been? I was worried sick!"

"Where have _I _been?" Rory repeated incredulously before letting out a soft scoff walking into the house. "You know what? I don't even want to look at you right now, let alone talk to you."

Logan shook his head in confusion and followed her in the kitchen, closing the garage door behind him. "How can you be mad at _me _right now?" he exclaimed in a muffled yell. "I come home and you're _gone_ without a trace. You could have left a note, left a message, _something_!"

"I _did_ leave a message!" Rory whispered back. "I left a message with you before you left this morning. I left a message in you brief case, in your blackberry, _and _with your secretary. I don't know what else you want from me Logan, maybe a skywriter, live CNN coverage of my day, or…I know…how about I just get a big neon sign and put it up right outside your office window!"

"What are you talking about?" Logan asked.

"You know where I was, Logan! We planned this days ago! _You _picked the day!" A look pod realization quickly passed over Logan's face and was soon replaced with one of sheer guilt and remorse.

"Your grandparents…" He said slowly, wincing as the words fell off the tip of his tongue.

"Yea, my grandparents."

"Oh, Ace, I'm _so_ sorry." He said, reaching out to brush his thumb across her cheek. Rory turned her head away and Logan could feel a dagger piercing through his heart. "I completely forgot. I was just _so _busy with work and-"

"Save it, Logan. I really don't want to hear it right now." Jake let out a tired whimper from his mother's arms and clung to her tighter, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to put your son to bed." With that she exited the kitchen, leaving Logan alone with nothing to accompany him but his guilt.

* * *

Softly and slowly, he closed the door of his daughter's bedroom behind him, careful not to wake her. He turned too look down the hall and saw Rory making her way into their bedroom, her hands reaching up to take out her earrings. With a nervous gulp, he took off after her. He walked inside their bedroom, closing their door much like he did his daughter's, afraid that a sudden loud noise may set Rory off. He watched nervously as she placed her jewelry in the box on top of her vanity. He silent and still demeanor told him that she was more than angry….not that he could blame her.

"So…" he started awkwardly. "How _was _dinner?" He winced milliseconds after he uttered the words, preparing himself for the onslaught that was sure to come his way.

"Fine…" His face relaxed the calm response, but the alarms within him raged even louder. He looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were down cast as she started to pluck the pins out of her hair. "Grandma had pot roast."

"Oh…your favorite…that was nice of her."

"Yep." She replied shortly. "I think she knew we had some big news to tell her. Or…well…that _I _had some big news to tell her." Logan closed his eyes and sighed, letting his head drop for a moment.

"Rory…" he began pleadingly. "I'm _so_ sorry. I don't know what else to say here. I know I don't have any excuse. You told me countless times. It's all my fault. I should have remembered. I feel _horrible. _I'm sorry. Please forgive me. We can have dinner with them again next week-"

"Oh Jesus, Logan!" Rory yelled, turning around and slamming her hand on the vanity. "This isn't about the _dinner _okay. Even if we could have dinner with them next week I don't want to. It's a hassle getting down all the way down there with the kids!"

"Okay…then what is this about, Rory? You have to help me here…"

"Okay…Logan, I love you. I know you have a commitment to your job and I respect that. I support that. I always have."

"I know."

"I get that you're under a lot of stress right now and things are crazy. I understand that you're going to be late sometimes. I understand that you aren't able to spend as much time at home. I get it, alright. And it's okay. I can live with it. But damn it, Logan, lately you're _never _home. You're _always _late. And starting now…you're just not showing up at all!"

"Come on, Ace, that's not fair!"

"You're damn right it's not fair!" Rory screamed. "It's not fair at all! It's not fair that I have to take care of _everything_ around here by myself. It's not fair that I haven't fallen asleep next to my husband for two weeks! It's not fair that I'm practically raising our kids by myself. It's not fair that they think you've moved out of the house!"

"What?" Logan asked in disbelief.

"They never see you, Logan! You come home when they're asleep and leave before they wake up!

"I see them…" he defended. "I saw Jake two days… ago… at the hospital…" Hearing himself say out loud that it had been two days since he saw his son made Logan knees collapse. He dropped onto the bed and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Yea…two _days _ago and you didn't even hold him Logan! You crushed him! He's three years old! He wanted his father to hold him! But you couldn't get out of there fast enough!" Rory backed off seeing Logan sitting on the bed leaning over and clutching his head in his hands. With a calming sigh she walked over to the bed and sat next to him, rubbing a hand up and down his back.

"Remember the first night we…well…you know…" Logan chuckled softly.

"Had sex?" he asked. "Yes, I remember." Rory nodded.

"We had just gone to that party at my grandparents' house and you got in a fight with your Mom. You said you snapped at her. You freaked out and you felt horrible, like it was something that your father would have done." Logan nodded.

"You told me that night that seeing that tiny bit of Mitchum in you scared you to death. You said that you didn't want to turn out like him and I promised you, I _promised_ you, that I wouldn't let that happen, even if I had to march up to you in ten years and slap you myself."

"Yea…I remember…" Logan said, nodding solemnly.

"Well consider this my first slap, Logan." He looked up at her, exposing his tear-filled eyes and Rory didn't know whether or not to feel bad for her words or be proud of them. "I think my hand still has strength enough for a few more, should the need arise."

"I kinda forgot how much they can hurt." Logan said softly, Rory closed her eyes as she felt her own tears start to trickle down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Rory. I'm so sorry."

"I know." She said, gathering him in her arms and running her fingers through his unruly hair. He held onto her, clutching her for fear that if he let go she might run away. Rory held him just as tightly, silently promising him that she wasn't ever going anywhere.

**TBC…**


	5. Huntzberger and Echolls

Hey everyone! I know I said I was going to update Make A Wish next but I sat down at the computer and was hit with inspiration for this chapter. When those opportunities come by I snatch them. Make A Wish will be next I promise. Thank you all so much for your reviews! It seemed to be a consensus that the last chapter was really sad. Well, if I told you this one was happier would that make you feel better? I hope not. Because…it isn't. But it's good, full of drama and all that jazz. Please tell me what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Gilmore Girls

**Chapter 5**

**Huntzberger and Echolls **

Rory draped the brand new quilt over the light blue rocking lounger in the new nursery. It was a work in progress, that was for sure, but after this morning she could finally start digging in. Her choices were narrowed down by fifty percent. James, her designer/soul mate whom, if he wasn't gay, she would leave Logan for, was already in the progress of designing yet another wonderful room for her dream home. This one would have blue walls.

Looking around the basically empty space she sighed in contentment and placed a hand over the bump that was now _very_ visible. It was remarkable how different this pregnancy was from her others. Had she not known better she would have sworn she was having twins. Even Logan noticed that she was larger than she was with Ellie at this point, even Jake. She was five months pregnant and she looked seven. She felt fat. The doctor kept insisting that it was normal, every pregnancy is different.

She walked into the hallway and started kicking a cardboard box that she had brought up from the basement. She no longer had the strength to carry it and if Logan found out she had brought it up the stairs he would kill her. It was cute how overly protective of her he was. Cute and annoying.

Taking a seat on the floor she began to rummage through the box, taking out some of Jakes old onesies and nursery blankets. With each item her smile grew even wider. She lifted a footie to her eye and stared at it in wonder, trying to remember how small her little boy's feet used to be. It was insane to think that he used to fit in all these clothes. When did he grow up?

"What are you doing, Mommy?" Speak of the devil. Rory smiled up at her son as he walked over and sat down next to her.

"I'm looking through some of your old baby clothes." She answered, folding the tiny pajamas in her hand and placing them gently on the floor next to her.

"Why?"

"For your little brother." Rory explained, patting her protruding belly. She smiled as she watched Jake's face contort into his normal look of confusion. Ever since she and Logan had told him there was a baby inside of her he had been skeptical of the concept. Now, he had finally stopped asking questions but they could tell he still didn't understand.

"Why does he need _my_ clothes?" Jake asked. Rory was slightly taken aback by the question so she dropped what she was doing and looked Jake in the eye, giving him her full attention.

"Well…sweetie, because he's a baby, you don't need these clothes anymore. But they'll fit him and we shouldn't waste them." Rory explained.

"But they're mine…"

"Sweetheart…" Rory said, pulling the toddler into her lap. "We've talked a lot about what's going to happen now that you have a little brother. Do you remember?"

"Yea, you said that I have to be nice and a good zample for him."

"That's right." Rory said. "But part of being a big brother is sharing. You're gonna need to share some of your clothes and your toys with him."

"But they're mine!" he exclaimed. "Why does he get to use them? Why can't he get his own toys?"

"He will, but sometimes he might want to play with some of yours. Remember what Miss Stacey says at pre-school? You need to share the toys with everyone."

"But I'm not at pre-school!" Jake insisted. Rory sighed.

"Just because you're not at pre-school doesn't mean that rule doesn't apply. You have to follow it everywhere you go. Home is no different."

"That's not fair!" Jake screamed, throwing himself out of his mother's lap. He bent down and started to gather as much as he could in his hand. "They're _mine_!" he yelled.

"Jacob…put those down, right now!"

"No!" he yelled as he ran out of the room. Rory lunged her arms at him, cursing her belly for getting in the way. She stood up slowly, trying to avoid squishing her unborn child as best she could. She knew that there was no real point, by the time she had gained enough strength to pull herself up she heard a door slam.

"Jake!" she called as she lost her balance and started to fall to the floor again. Luckily a pair of strong arms stopped her fall. She looked up into the eyes of her smirking husband and swooned. "Why thank ya sir, I've always depended on the kindness of strangas."

"Why did I see an angry three year old run into his room hoarding what looked like baby clothes?" Logan asked as he helped his wife to stand on her feet and held onto the sides of her stomach, unconsciously smiling at the feeling of the bump holding his child.

"Didn't you hear? Because they're _his_." Rory explained. Logan raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed, preparing herself for an explanation. "I was getting the nursery ready for the new baby so I decided to go through Jake's old baby clothes…"

"Jake's old clothes?" Logan asked with a twinkle in his eye. "We're having a boy!"

"Didn't I tell you?" Rory asked. Logan smirked and started to shake his head. "Oh well…no were having a girl. But I thought I'd try a sociology experiment to see if homosexuality can be affected by the environment or if it's genetic so…I'm going to treat her like a boy!"

"Sounds great." Logan said, shaking his head and trying to stifle the smile forcing its way on his face.

"Yup, were gonna give her some unisex name like…Chris or Parker or Ashley…oh I know…how about Bobby!"

"Wow…one more to add to the list." Logan said, rolling his eyes at Rory's attitude toward his business partner. "Wait…Ashley isn't a boys name…" he added as an after thought.

"Uh…Ashley Wilkes…"

"I thought we were talking about _men_…" For that he received a slap on the arm.

"Ashley was a very sensitive and considerate man and you should be so lucky to be compared to him!" Rory defended.

"Ashley was pussy who couldn't decide what the hell he wanted, let a manipulative bitch walk all over him, and fucked his cousin on a daily basis. But you're right…I _do_ so want to be like him."

"Crude much?" Rory asked.

"Well, what can I say? I am no gentleman and you, Miss, are no lady." Logan said twitching his eyebrows. Rory giggled as she leaned up and kissed him.

"I taught you well, Rhett." She said before kissing him once more. "Are you happy?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

"_So_ happy. I'm gonna have another son! It's amazing. Jake's gonna have a little brother. It's perfect. The only thing that could be just as perfect as this moment is if you told me we were having another girl." Logan said.

"Oh…I taught you _so_ well!" Rory exclaimed. "And I'm happy too! I just wish…never mind."

"What?" Logan asked. When Rory shook her head he sighed in exasperation. "Ace…what's wrong?"

"It's Jake. He…I don't know. I think he's jealous. With you working so often, I'm the only one around and I'm with the new baby 24/7…literally." Rory said, pointing down to her stomach. "I don't have the time and energy to take care of the kids and my pregnant self and I think Jake is reaping the consequences. Ellie's fine. She went through this already and she's been spending a lot of time at her friend Evie's house lately. She's there right now. So she's not feeling the affects as much. But Jake…I don't know. He's having a hard time and I've tried to talk to him but…"

"I'll talk to him, Ace." Logan said.

"I don't know, Logan…I've tried but…" Rory trailed off, not wanting to mention the fact that his absence has been having a profound impact on their son. Logan was so blissful in his ignorance. But then she knew that he would have to find out eventually.

"Hey, I'm his father, okay. I can get to him." Logan insisted.

"Logan…you haven't…" _been around…_ "…dealt with this as much as I have."

"Don't worry, Ace. I got it under control."

* * *

"Hey, Buddy." Logan said as he leaned against the doorway to his son's bedroom. He found Jake stuffing something underneath his bed. At the sound of his father's voice the boy straightened up, hiding whatever was in his hand behind his back. Logan smiled and shook his head in amusement before walking in the room and kneeling in front of him.

"Whatcha got there?" he asked, peeking around Jake's back. The toddler kept moving to avoid getting caught and looked up innocently.

"Nothing…"

"Nothing huh?" Logan asked, grabbing his son around the waist and lifting him up in the air. Logan expected him to start laughing as he picked him but, to his surprise, Jake started whining to be put down. He was squirming wildly in Logan's arms and he had no choice but to place him back on the ground, not without grabbing the onesie Jake was holding behind his back first. "This looks like something to me. But I think it's a little small for you, Bud."

Jake scowled at his father and sat down on his bed with a huff. Logan sat down next to him.

"What with the 'tude, man? You're not in trouble. We're just talking." Logan said, lifting Jake into his lap. "Do you want to tell me why you were hoarding your old baby clothes under your bed?"

"Cause they're _mine_!" Jake yelled, crawling off Logan's lap and continuing to shove the pile of baby clothes under his bed.

"Oh…okay, I get it. You don't want your new little brother to use _your_ clothes."

"They're mine! Why can't he get his own clothes!?!"

"Jacob…" Logan started. "You need to share with your little brother when he gets here."

"I don't want to share! They're mine! _My_ clothes! _My_ toys!"

"Jake, part of being a big brother is learning how to share your toys. You're going to have to share a lot of things, your toys, your clothes, even your mommy and me." It was at this point that Jake burst out into tears and started screaming. Logan was shocked to say the least at the sudden outburst.

"I don't wanna be a big brother anymore!" he cried. "Take him back! I don't want him!" Logan's heart broke and he knelt down on the floor next to his son, trying to console him. Jake pushed away violently when his father tried to hug him and let out a blood curdling scream of "No!" He bent down, picking up a stuffed monkey and throwing it across the room.

"Jake…" Logan warned, trying to grab his arms and keep him from throwing anything else. The toddler, however, was too quick. He escaped his father's attempts to settle him and starting throwing more objects around the room, ignoring Logan's warnings to stop.

"Jacob Lucas Huntzberger, if you don't put that car down right now, you're going to be in _deep _trouble." Logan warned. Jake looked him in the eye and threw the plastic automobile to the floor with a loud crash. Logan's patience was wearing thin and was about to snap at any second.

"I'm giving you to the count of three…"

"No!" An action figure flew past Logan's head.

"One…"

A pile of books formed on the floor as they were swept off the shelf.

"Two…"

The pillows that once lined the top of Jake's tiny bed landed on the floor.

"Three."

* * *

Downstairs in the kitchen there was a lonely chair sitting in the corner of the room, occupying a tearful three year old as he fearfully looked his father in the eye. Logan was kneeled in front of him, his finger pointed in his face threateningly.

"We do not throw things around in our room when we're angry. And when I tell you to stop something, I expect you to do just that. I'm not going to accept _any_ behavior like that in my house ever again. Do you hear me?" Logan asked. Jake sniffed as he nodded his head up and down and the tears continued to fall from his eyes.

"No you are going to have a little brother whether you like it or not. No temper tantrum is going to stop that from happening. So you'd better get used to it. Now, I want you to sit in this chair until I tell you that you can move. Until then, I don't want to hear one _peep_ out of you. Got it?"

"Yes" Jake said in a tiny voice.

"Yes _Sir._" Logan corrected.

"Yes Sir."

"Good." Logan said, standing up. "Stay." He turned around and walked into the living room, passing Rory who was leaning in the doorway watching them.

Once he was out of the kitchen, Rory walked inside, pulling up a chair to sit next to her baby. She kissed his forehead and ran a finger through his hair as he continued to cry and sniff. "It's okay." She said. "You're okay."

"I…I…I…" Jake said, trying to formulate a sentence. Rory cut him off with a soft "shh"

"I know you're upset, sweetheart." Rory said. "Having a little brother is a big deal and it's hard. But no matter how upset you are you can't throw things around in your room. If there's a problem you have to talk to me or Daddy about it."

"Da-Daddy s-said that I-I-I h-have to share h-him w-with the b-baby…" Rory closed her eyes and sighed, finally realizing that, yes, people _can _die from a broken heart. She was remarkably close right now.

"Daddy was right, honey. But once he gets bigger he won't need our help as much anymore and then Daddy will have more time to spend with you."

"I-I-I ne-never s-see him anym-more." Jake cried. "I-I d-don't want to sh-share him with the b-baby!"

"How about this, you can help Daddy and I take care of your little brother when he gets home and then you can spend time with all three of us, how does that sound?" Jake nodded and Rory walked over to the counter where a box of Kleenex was setting. Walking over to her son, she held the tissue to his nose. "Blow."

Jake blew his nose into the tissue and Rory threw it away. She wiped the tears out of his eyes and kissed him on the forehead again. "I love you, baby and Daddy loves you too." Jake nodded again. "But you have to stay here like your father told you, alright. I'm trusting you. You promise to stay?"

"I pwomise."

"Okay." Rory said, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room in search of her husband.

"You shouldn't be coddling him, Rory." Logan said from the couch as she stepped out into the living room with a mournful look in her eye. She stopped and looked at him, sighing with defeat. "He misbehaved he's getting punished. He doesn't need his mother coming up to him and excusing his actions." She scowled at him.

"He doesn't need his father to be mean and heartless either." She countered back, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes.

"Kids need discipline Rory, okay? Especially our kids."

"What is _that _supposed to mean?" Rory asked, flabbergasted.

"It means that we're rich." Logan said. Rory shrugged urging him to tell her something that she didn't already know. Logan sighed. "The lawsuit seems to be progressing in our favor so chances are we'll stay that way."

"Wow, that's good to hear. I'm glad you _finally _decided to share something with me!" Rory yelled. Logan groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Don't change the subject. We're talking about our kids, Rory. They need discipline. They need to understand the fact that they can't get away with everything and get everything they want _when_ they want it just by throwing a temper tantrum. I have no problem giving things to my kids, alright. I have the funds to do it. It makes them happy. If they really want something, I'll get it for them. I'm happy to raise privileged kids but what I'm not going to raise are spoiled _brats_!"

"So Jake is a spoiled brat because he threw _one _temper tantrum? He's three years old, Logan. It comes with the territory." Rory defended.

"No. He's not a spoiled brat. I'd like to keep him that way!" Logan said. "It's a time-out, Rory. He'll survive. I got a lot worse when I was a kid. I think I'm going easy on him."

"It's not the time-out that's the problem here. It's the way in which you implemented it. You _screamed_ at him!"

"I was firm." Logan corrected.

"No, Logan, you weren't _firm_. Firm is…Winston Churchill…Thomas Paine…St. Peter….Keith Mars…alright you…_you_ were not Keith Mars, Logan…you were…Aaron Echolls!"

"I discipline my kid and suddenly I'm a pedophile, adulterer, _and_ a murderer. Okay, _that _makes since!"

"God!" Rory exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "I can't even _look _at you right now. I'm pregnant and I'm angry." Rory got in his face one last time, pointing a finger at him. "You better make good with this Logan. You better make good with this fast. Jake's not going to be a kid forever, you know. And the rate at which your once wonderful relationship with him is crumbling is so fast that one of these days it's going to be gone and you won't even know where to look to find it."

"He's three years old, Rory." Logan said, calmly. "I know I'm not his favorite person right now but he'll get over it." He raised his hands to her arms and started rubbing them up and down to calm her. "He needs to know that behavior like that won't be tolerated. This is the only way to do it. I wish there was another way. I really do. I hate seeing him miserable on that chair just as much as you do. But if I let him off, he'll think that he can get away with it again."

"I have to go to the bathroom." Rory said, walking away from him. Logan watched her go, letting out a sigh. He turned to the kitchen and started walking inside. The corners of his mouth twitched up at the sight of his son swinging his feet in the corner. Logan walked over to him and knelt down but Jake refused to acknowledge him.

"So I get the silent treatment, huh?" Logan asked. Jake looked up and scowled at him. Logan chose to ignore it. "Did you learn your lesson?" Logan asked. The boy nodded softly, looking down at the floor. "Are you going to share with your little brother when he gets here?"

"Yes, Sir." Jake mumbled miserably. Logan was taken aback by his son's terminology. That was something his father used to make him say…Had he really insisted that Jake addressed him that way? Had his anger really gotten the best of him? Brushing his thoughts to the side, Logan ruffled Jake's hair, ignoring the pang in his heart when the toddler pushed his hands away.

"Alright you can go. But I want you to clean your room of the mess you made or you don't get any dessert."

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, go on." Logan said, moving out of the way so he could watch his son run off to his room. "I love you, kiddo." He called after him. He held his breath waiting for the routine reply but it never came. He heard a clearing of a throat behind him and turned to see Rory leaning against the kitchen doorway.

"Why didn't they ever mention the heartbreaking guilt that comes along with disciplining kids in all those parenting books you forced me to read?" Logan asked.

"I'd like to tell you everything is going to be okay, Logan. But Jake isn't mad about that this goes beyond a time-out. He misses you. He feels like you don't care about him anymore and now one of the few times he's seen you in the past week you're reinforcing those ideas."

"That's bullshit! You _know _how much I care about him! I love those kids more than anything on this planet! That's why I'm doing this. I want them to go up into good responsible people…"

"You know that and I know that. But to a child…it's not as clear. They don't see the future, Logan. They don't see how a punishment will help them in the long run. All they see is their father yelling at them. It's important to be firm. But you crossed the line over to _mean_."

"I should talk to him." He started walking toward the door but Rory stopped him.

"Just give him some time to cool off." Rory said. "I've found that's what works best. He's a lot like his father, that one." Logan smirked as Rory walked past him, kissing him on the cheek as she moved. She went to the freezer and started shuffling through the food.

"What happened to the cookie dough ice cream?"

"You ate it." Logan said with a laugh. Turning around slowly to face him again, Rory wore a sly smile. Logan rolled his eyes and reached in his pockets for the keys.

"I'll be right back." He said with a sigh.

"Thanks, baby!"

* * *

"_Do you know what you are, Logan? You're a screw up. That's what you are. That's all you're good for—destroying every situation! You can't do _anything_ right can you? Do you have _any_ sense of responsibility at all? That was a brand new car, Logan, an _expensive _car. You'd better got you're act together, Logan Elias Huntzberger. I mean it this time. _My _son will _not _be a failure. Do you understand me? "_

"_Yes, Sir." _

**TBC…**

* * *

Just an end note…I hope I didn't make Logan _too_ mean. Please don't hate him. He's just lost right now. Lol. 


	6. Happy Birthday Babies?

Hello there, everyone. Yes, I know, one more chapter of Perfect Timing when I've promised Make A Wish twice now. But, after the delay I had a few reviews on this begging me for an update so I thought I'd update this one first as per request. I'm also very sorry about the delay by the way. I had finals and then all this Christmas jazz so my time has been limited. Also, thank you all so much for the reviews. I know a lot of you aren't happy with Logan right now but I promise this chapter is full of family happiness. Unfortunately, since it's mainly a fluff stuffed fuller chapter, it's a little shorter than usual. The next one will make up for it though I promise. Thanks again! You guys rock my socks! 

**Disclaimer:** Yes, I still don't own Gilmore Girls. Trust me, if I did…well…let's just say it would be different and leave it at that.

**Chapter Six**

**Happy Birthday Bab_ies_?**

As a very excited three-make that four- year old boy ran down the stairs of his home, the wonderful scent of bacon filled his nostrils. His grin grew wide as he picked up his pace, wanting to get to the kitchen as fast as he possibly could. Even at his young age he knew what that smell meant. The smell of freshly cooked bacon meant homemade breakfast and homemade breakfast only meant one thing. Luke.

"There's the birthday-boy!"

"Grams!" Jake shouted as he bolted into Lorelai's arms. She picked him up, swinging him in the air before hugging him close to his chest.

"How old are you today, again? I seem to have forgotten." Jake laughed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm four, Grandma!" he said with exasperation. Lorelai chuckled and the grin on her face grew wider. She shot a look at her husband who was standing over the stove and he rolled his eyes.

"Four!?! That's impossible! I could have sworn you were twenty-one!"

"No, Grams I'm four!" Jake insisted, causing Lorelai to laugh again.

"Well please forgive me. I can't believe I was so terribly mistaken." She said, placing him in a chair at the table across from his sister. Jake looked around and noticed that his parents were nowhere to be found.

"Where are Mommy and Daddy?" he asked.

"They ran away because they couldn't stand another year of you." Ellie said. Jake stuck his tongue out at her and she stuck her out at him in return. The maturity of their arguments never ceased to amaze Lorelai. She couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ellie, be nice to your brother." Luke scolded before putting two plates down in front of them. "Eat up."

"Your Mom and Dad went to the bakery to pick up a cake for someone's party later this afternoon." Lorelai explained, throwing a wink at her grandson. Jake's eyes went wide with excitement. If there was one thing he gained from Rory's half of his chromosomes it was the love for food, lots and lots of glorious food. Speaking of which…

"Lucas?" Lorelai asked with a smile.

"Yes…"

"Don't you have a plate of breakfast for your oh so lovely little wife over hear." Luke sighed and started mumbling under his breath as he threw some more bacon on the pan. Lorelai smiled as she walked over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you!"

* * *

Hours later the house was filled with friends, family, neighbors, and a horde of three and four year olds running around like psychopaths. Ah the wonders of a child's birthday party…Once Rory had finally managed to escape the mingling duties of hostess she peered around the room looking for the guest of honor. When she couldn't spot his ruffled blonde head her heart started palpitating in worry. Two minutes, she had left him alone for two minutes to talk to the friends and family that filled her home and he had already managed to get lost. She should have known better than to leave Logan Huntzberger's son alone in a crowded room. The possibilities for mischief were far too large.

"Mom?" Rory asked as she spotted her mother just a few feet away from her. "Have you seen Jake? I've lost him, which is never a good thing."

"You mean the birthday-boy?" Lorelai asked with a smile. "I think I saw him tip-toeing into the dining room just a few seconds ago..."

"Oh no..." Rory said, her eyes widening with realization as she took of to retrieve her son. She ran, or moved as fast as she could in her pregnant state, to the dining room, stopping when she found what she was looking for. Kneeling on top of a chair and leaning over a large birthday cake was a very familiar three year old. Rory bolted to his side just in time to grab the hand that was hovering dangerously over the dessert about to plunge into the icing.

"Busted, Mister." she said before lifting him from the chair and placing him on the floor. "What did I tell you about eating this cake?"

"To wait until you cut it..." Jake said, looking guiltily at his shoes.

"Do you see a slice in that cake, Bud?"

"No…"

"That's right. Now, get out of here before my mercy run out." Rory said, swatting him on the bottom and smiling as he hustled out of the dining room. Rory watched through the doorway as he ran into Logan's arms and he threw him over his shoulder. Jake let out a squeal of laughter and Rory's smile grew wider. She shook her head in amusement before turning to pick up the chair that her son had dragged to the table.

Things had been gradually getting back to normal between Logan and Jake lately. Logan had made a point to see his son at least one time everyday and Jake's temper tantrums had radically decreased as a result. She could only hope that this truce between father and son would last long enough for Logan to take him to that baseball game he promised.

Rory placed her hands on the back of the chair and tried as hard as she could to maneuver her seven-month pregnant stomach so that she could lift it as easily as possible. The task was proving to be more difficult than she had planned. Maybe if she...

"Whoa..." A voice called, causing her to stop what she was doing. "You should not be lifting that by yourself. I swear to God you and your mother think your invincible or something."

Rory smiled as he took the chair from her hands and moved it back against the wall with the rest of them.

"Thanks, Luke."

"What are you thinking trying to carry this thing in your state?" Luke asked, causing Rory's smile to widen due to his over protectiveness. As his rant continued, Rory's smile only grew larger. Once he had moved the chair back to its rightful spot. Rory kissed him on the cheek.

"You're my knight in shining armor, Luke." She slipped back into the living room and gave her favorite sister-in-law a hug, leaving Luke to watch after her with a smile on his face. He turned around, stopping Jake sneaking up to the table once again.

"Hey!" Luke shouted, causing Jake to run away laughing. "Yea you better run!"

* * *

Jacob stared at the brightly wrapped package in front of him like a dog awaiting a juicy steak. His tongue was clamped between his teeth, sticking out the side of his mouth and his eyes were wide open, a look of extreme concentration. He circled the giant box for a moment, deciding where he was going to dig in first. Once his eyes landed on flap of paper not secured by tape, he raced to the present and tore the wrapping off the box in one swift movement, almost revealing an entire side of the box.

"Jake, try not to make too big of a mess please." His mother called out from the couch.

"Come on, Ace. Let the kid have some fun. It's his birthday for crying out loud." Logan argued as he followed his son around with a video camera.

"He's perfectly welcome to have fun on his birthday, dear. I just would prefer it was fun that doesn't make me clean up the massive amounts of wrapping paper lining the floor when everyone leaves." Rory said through gritted teeth. Logan didn't reply. He was too busy egging Jake on as he opened his presents.

"I'll take care of it, Rory." Honor said before grabbing a trash bag and picking up the wrapping paper her nephew had thrown everywhere.

"Oh, Honor, don't worry about it, really…"

"It's no problem at all. I don't want you to overwork yourself with my nephew in there. That's all." She said with a smile. Rory leaned back against the cushions and sighed.

"Alright. If you insist." The wrapping paper dilemma forgotten, she watched her son opening his massive present and couldn't suppress the smile that graced her face as Logan captured it all on film.

She was so happy he was here. She felt guilty thinking on those terms but she couldn't help it. Logan had been so absent lately that she couldn't help but dread that he might not show up at all for his son's birthday. She should have known better. He wouldn't miss this for the world. Even Mitchum was here which was surprising to everyone. He was the reason for the massive box that Jake was tearing open now.

He was sitting next to Rory, leaning forward on his knees and watching his son and grandson with a huge smile. Rory couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Sitting there next to her it was so obvious how much he loved his family. Yet, after all these years, he and Logan were still on less than friendly terms. She wondered if they would ever be close. She also wondered, with absolute dread, if their relationship was what was in store for Logan and Jake.

"Whoa!" The excited voice of her son called, breaking her out of her thoughts. "That is so cool!" Rory looked up, her eyes widening at a box revealing a picture of a miniature Hummer on the side. Oh boy, the fun she was going to have watching him play with that thing. She made a mental note to "thank" her father-in-law later.

"Open it, Daddy! Open it!" Jake's excited voice rang.

"Hold on there, Bud." Logan said, setting the video camera down and taking a pocket knife out if his pocket. Jake was bouncing up and down with anticipation and his grandfather let out an amused chuckle.

"That baby can get up to five miles an hour." Mitchum commented.

"Hurry up!" Jake urged Logan as he cut open the box.

"What do you say to Grandpa, sweetheart?" Rory asked.

"Thank you, Grandpa!" Jake said, running up to Mitchum and giving him a hug. Mitchum laughed as Jake launched himself into his arms.

"You're welcome, kiddo. Happy Birthday."

"Yes, thank you so much Dad." Logan said sarcastically. "And I assume you'll be paying for the upgraded model on his sixteenth birthday as well." Logan asked with a coy smile in his father's direction.

"Anything for my grandson." He replied, ruffling the child's hair. Logan laughed.

"Be grateful kiddo. That is defiantly not the man I grew up with." Logan lifted the plastic car out of the box and placed it on the floor. Jake ran to his gift and climbed in, ignoring his father's pleas for him to wait until they were outside. Once his father stepped out of the way Jake slammed his foot on the petal, causing the car to reach its full speed.

"Jacob!" Rory shouted from the couch, spurring the laughter of everyone in the room. Logan started to chase after him yelling at him to stop. Of all the people in the room Mitchum was laughing the hardest. Rory couldn't help but crack a smile as well at the thought of her father-in-law's amusement. Karma was indeed the ultimate cosmic justice system.

* * *

"….and then the Mommy and Daddy took their devastatingly handsome little baby boy home and they lived happily ever after." Rory said as Jake snuggled into her embrace. "Okay, time to go to sleep." Jake shifted in bed and Rory stood up so that she could pull the covers over him. Dodger walked up from the foot of the bed and snuggled next to Jake, licking his face before resting his head on the pillow. Jake giggled, trying to push the dog away.

"Oh, come on. He just wants to give you some birthday kisses." Rory said sitting back down on the side of the bed and scratching the lab behind its ears. He had grown significantly in the past few mouths and now almost took up more of the bed than Jake did. She had tried to convince him to let them buy him a doggy bed but Jake was having none of that.

"Did you have a good birthday, baby?" She asked. Jake nodded emphatically. "Did you get everything you wanted?" he nodded again and Rory smiled. "Well that's good. What was your favorite or do I need to ask?" She asked, knowing beyond a doubt that he was going to rave about his new "car".

"Daddy was here." Jake said, surprising her. Tears almost started to well in her eyes and she gave him a solemn smile and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Yea he was, wasn't he?" she asked. "Did you like Grandpa's present?"

"Yea! Daddy and I went outside and I got to drive it around. It's not very fast but Uncle Finn said that he would take it home and make it go faster if I wanted." Rory made a mental note not to let Finn anywhere around that toy Hummer.

"Well…I think you should just keep it the way it is for a while." Rory said. Jake let out an annoyed sigh and reluctantly agreed. Rory stood up and leaned forward, pressing a kiss against his forehead. "Goodnight, baby. Sleep tight."

"Goodnight, Mommy." She walked to his door and turned off the lights, taking one more look at him before walking out and closing the door softly behind her.

She walked down the hall a few steps to her daughter's room and found her already tucked into bed and sound asleep. She felt a small pang in her heart at the sight. Her baby girl was growing up. She didn't need her Mommy to tuck her in at night anymore. Rory could remember a time when she wouldn't even close her eyes until she or Logan had kissed her goodnight. Now, here she was, already sleeping before Rory even muttered a good night.

Tip-toeing inside, she walked up to her daughter's bed and pulled the covers around her tighter. She picked up Ramón who had already fallen off the bed, which he did every night, and placed him back on the bed, underneath the covers. She leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, wincing as her daughter let out a tired whine and shifted. Luckily, she didn't wake up and Rory relaxed before walking out of the room quietly.

"I love you." She whispered before closing the door and walking down stairs where her husband was cleaning up the party mess.

* * *

Hours after the kids were tucked into bed, Rory sat on the couch, munching on a piece of leftover cake and a pickle. The plate holding her food was resting comfortably on her inflated belly, using it as a table. She had been working hard to keep the plastic plate balanced so it wouldn't fall off and had finally found the perfect position. She picked up her fork about to dive into the slice of cake when suddenly she felt a jab within her stomach and the plate fell, causing the cake to land icing first on the floor.

"Hey!" Rory said, looking down at her stomach and placing her hands on either side. Logan laughed dropping the foot that he had been previously massaging. "You stop being mean to Mommy! I'm going to give birth to you, you little mongrel. That's one week you're grounded when you turn sixteen. I'm keeping a tally." She said, poking the top if her stomach lightly.

"Come on, Ace. He was just teasing you." Logan said, leaning over his wife to place a kiss on her stomach. "Weren't you, Buddy?"

"Teasing or no teasing, I'm out of cake. And I have to clean up the floor."

"I'll get it later. Don't you worry your little head about that." Logan said, pushing her forward slightly so that he could slide behind her. Rory leaded into him and he placed his hand over her belly, rubbing it in circles across her flesh.

"So…we need to fix this whole "Buddy" thing don't we?" Rory said. "Unless, you were planning on naming our son that. And, if that's the case, I'm going to have to use my first veto."

Logan laughed. "No, I don't want to name him, Buddy. But I am, particularly fond of the name Logan…"

"No."

"That's what I thought." He said with a laugh. "Although I don't know where you get off not letting me name my son after myself. After all, our daughter is named after you."

"That's different. That's tradition. You just want to name him Logan because your ego is the size of the Empire State Building."

"Huh, and I thought you were going to say Sears Tower."

"Nope. That's your father." Rory corrected with a grin. Logan laughed and kissed her neck.

"I love you." He said.

"You love me because I insulted your father?" she asked.

"No…I love you because you're funny and smart and beautiful..."

"Keep going…"

"I thought we were talking about names for Junior here." Logan said, effectively changing the subject. "And…I know you have one, otherwise you wouldn't have brought the subject up." Rory smiled.

"You know me well." She said.

"What is it?"

"Cody."

"Cody huh?" Logan repeated, mulling it over in his head. "I like that." He leaned forward a bit, getting his face closer to her stomach. "What do you think?" he asked, smiling as he felt a kick underneath his hand.

"I think we have a winner." Logan said. Rory smiled before letting out a small laugh.

"Yes, it's a lot better that Harold." Logan rolled his eyes and groaned.

"How many times do I have to tell you that was my mother's idea!?! It was her grandfather's name." Rory was laughing uncontrollably at her husband's anger.

"It may have been your mother's idea but you still repeated it to me." She said. Logan was about to open his mouth for a retort when he spotted a head of curly blonde hair walking toward them.

"What are you doing up little missy? It's way past your bed-time." Rory said to her daughter as she walked up to them.

"I had a bad dream." Ellie said, wiping her tired eyes with her fist. Rory was about to tell her to go back to bed but Logan jumped up from the couch and hugged their daughter before she could even form a thought. She rolled her eyes. Logan spoiled that girl to death. All she had to do was pout her lips and her father would not only buy her a pony, he'd buy the whole damn stable. It was just like him to buy into her sympathy plots…

"A bad dream? What happened?" he asked, picking her up and rubbing her back in soothing circles.

"You and Mommy weren't home and the babysitter turned into a monster and she was trying to eat me and Jake."

"Oh, that sounds scary. Come on, Daddy will tuck you back in."

"Yes, Daddy will tuck you back into your bed in your room. Did you hear that Daddy?" Rory emphasized, making sure that under no circumstances was Ellie going to be permitted into their bed for the evening. The last time she had a string of nightmares she had ended up sleeping in their bed for a whole week. Rory's back was still sore from the kicks and elbow shots she had received from the little girl in the middle of the night, or maybe it was sore because she was seven months pregnant…Speaking of sore backs… her's had been particularly painful today. She'd make sure to have Logan massage it later.

"Yes Mommy." Logan replied as he carried his little girl upstairs. Rory watched them walk away with a smile on her face. Although Rory knew the kid was using him, she couldn't help but smile at the cuteness of their relationship. Once they turned the corner and made their way up the stairs, Rory shifted on the couch so that she was resting comfortably against the cushions where her husband's chest had once been.

Spotting the fork she had been using moments before on the coffee table she picked it up and with a shrug decided to dig into the cake on the floor. Taking a bite off the top that had not come in contact with the hard wood, she sighed in delight. Cake was so good. She put the fork down and rested against the couch, closing her eyes for a moment and sighing in relaxation. She almost fell asleep but was interrupted by a sharp, painful, and very familiar pain in her stomach. Her eyes went wide and her hands grabbed her belly in shock, all she could hear was the endless sting of "No's" repeating over and over in her mind.

"Logan!"

**TBC…**


	7. When Monsters Appear

Here's chapter seven! I have to apologize, it may be a phase I'm going through, but for some reason I just can't seem to make may chapters as long as I used to. Hopefully that will change. It may be shorter but I promise it's not lacking on content. This is a pretty heavy chapter so I hope you all enjoy. Also, theirs is a little bit of a religious message in the end…I hope that doesn't offend anyone. I just thought it was a nice little touch. Anyway…thank you all so much for the reviews! I hope you enjoy. 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Chapter Seven**

**When Monsters Appear**

It was utterly amazing how standing in front of one window can change even the most miserable mood into one of hope, even if just for a few moments. The stoic expression that Logan had been wearing on his face ever since he drove his wife to the hospital was now replaced for the first time all night with a smile.

As he looked upon the sleeping infants, wrapped warmly in their pink and blue blankets, he was reminded of the days year ago when his two children were born. Those days were easily marked down as the best days of his life. He imagined that the birth of his third child would be no different. He imagined that the next time he would be standing in front of this window he would be watching his son and swelling with pride. He never in a million years imagined that he would be feeling like this.

His father used to tell him that his that-can't-happen-to-me outlook on life would come back and bite him in the ass one day. He was right. He just never dreamed that it would play out like this. While listening to his father's lectures he always imagined crashing his car in a street race or contracting some lethal STD from one of his one-night-stands. In every case the victim in the scenario was himself. He never dreamed that the victim would end up to be his child. Because if one thing was certain in this whole fiasco it was that he never dreamed this would happen to him.

Sure he knew this kind of thing happen all the time. He watched Oprah from time to time. He knew all about the horrible and miraculous stories of preemies. It was just that every time he heard one of them he shrugged it off thinking it would never happen to him. Out of all the things to finally bring him to reality, why did it have to be this? Why couldn't he have driven himself into a telephone pole after having one to many glasses of scotch? Why couldn't he go to the doctor one day and find that all those cigarettes he had stolen from his mother in high school had given him lung cancer? Why did his son have to suffer?

"Mr. Huntzberger?"

Logan turned to face Rory's OBGYN Dr. Meyers. He uncrossed the arms that were folded across his chest and smiled weakly at the middle aged African American woman. "How is she?" he asked.

"You're wife is doing fine." Dr. Meyer's reassured.

"The baby?" Logan asked, his voice cracking ever so slightly. The doctor sighed and glanced down at the floor quickly before meeting Logan's eye.

"Unfortunately your wife's contractions have increased and she's now experiencing one about every seven minutes which pushed her into the category of full-blown labor…" Logan swallowed.

"However, I've just talked with her about some techniques that we can try in order to stop the contractions and she's agreed to take some terbulatine. Now, it's not an FDA approved labor halting drug, it's actually used for asthma patients but it's shown to be very affective in stopping contractions in the past. She wanted me to run it past you…"

"Perfect!" Logan said, his heart jumping at the chance ensuring his child's well being.

"Unfortunately, even if we stop the labor now it's almost impossible to guarantee a full term pregnancy." Logan nodded and licked his lips.

"Yea…I…I figured that would be the case." Dr. Meyers offered him a small smile.

"Everything will turn out fine Mr. Huntzberger. Even if we can post-pone the labor for just a couple weeks the chances for a perfectly healthy baby will skyrocket. I have cases like this all the time. I can't tell you how many pre-mature babies go home perfectly fine. Your wife has had excellent pre-natal care. I'm 99 positive that even if she gives birth tonight your baby will be fine."

"Only 99?" Logan asked, looking down at his shoes. Dr. Meyers smiled at him again.

"I'm going to need to sign some forms before we can give her the medication." Logan nodded and took the forms that the doctor held out to him. He scribbled his name on the dotted line before watching her walk away. With one last look at the nursery he turned around and walked toward the cafeteria. He was in desperate need of some coffee and a donut right now.

Walking past the tables, he noted that he was not the only person who was in a serious state of melancholy. After all, this was a hospital, in the middle of the night, in the pediatrics wing. Most of these people would not be here unless there were dire circumstances, most likely concerning their children. At least he wasn't alone in this.

He grabbed his donut and a Styrofoam cup of disgusting coffee before taking a seat on a folding chair at a long table. Taking out his cell phone, he flipped it open, noticing that he had about ten missed calls. Skimming through them he noticed that only one of them was from home, probably Ellie with another nightmare. Hopefully Honor took care of that. The rest of the calls, however, were from his father. He threw the phone on the table and groaned.

"I'm going to kill myself." He muttered, his head falling on the table. After staring at the mobile device for a few moments, he let out a sigh and called his father back, tapping his foot as he listened to the rings.

"Logan!" His father cheered as he answered the phone. Logan drew in a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever it was his father was about to say. "I'm glad you called. Sorry to call you so late but I was wondering if you'd be able to come into the office early tomorrow morning…"

"Dad…"

"I know its late notice but I thought since I gave you this afternoon off…"

"Dad…"

"There's just a lot that needs to be done tomorrow. I intend to make a whole front page spread in the Times about the trial. I want to rub that bastards face in the fact that he lost. It'll teach him to take on Mitchum Huntzberger ever again…"

"Dad I can't come in tomorrow. I need the day off…" Logan explained, ignoring the fact that his father was taking the claim for the victory in the lawsuit when it was Logan that did all the work while Mitchum baked in the sun and was most likely getting laid by the pool staff.

"What are you talking about? I gave you the day off today!" Mitchum exclaimed. Logan closed his eyes, wincing from the headache that he had developed. He didn't have the strength to put up an argument.

"Dad please…" he pleaded. "I really don't have it in me listen to your list top ten reasons why I'm the worst son ever to walk the face of the planet right now okay? I just…please can you…can you forget for one second that I'm your employee and for once in my life treat me like I'm your son? Because right now I could really use some encouragement."

The silence that came over the phone was eerie and uncomfortable for Logan. He was patiently awaiting his father's angry rebuttal. He was waiting for his lecture to grow up and take on his responsibilities. He was never waiting for what happened next.

"Why? What's going on?"

"I'm at the hospital. Rory just went into labor. I can't come into work tomorrow Dad. I'm sorry. I know you're disappointed in me. I know you don't want my shirking my responsibilities to work but I just really don't care. You could fucking fire me if you really want to I just can't come into work tomorrow. Please, Dad, I'm begging you…. Dad? Dad?" Logan asked, not receiving a reply. He looked at his phone, noticing on the screen that the call had been ended. His father had hung up on him. Maybe he was actually going to take him up on that whole firing suggestion. Perfect.

This whole night was absolutely perfect.

* * *

Thirty minutes. It had been thirty minutes since Logan had announced that he needed to get some air and left her side. She hadn't minded at all at the time, wanting a little alone time of her own to gather her own thoughts. But now as the clock continued to tick and he still had yet to return she began to grow worried. 

She couldn't understand why he needed so much time to himself. She was going through this too, not only emotionally but physically as well. She couldn't help but feel slightly abandoned. Then again, Logan would never abandon her. He loved her. He would never abandon her, unless, suddenly, he wanted to.

After all, here she was, lying in a hospital bed, her hands shaking rapidly from the dosage of terbulatine she had been given in order to stop her contractions. She was only seven months pregnant. She shouldn't be having this baby right now. He could be sick. He could… She couldn't even think about what could happen if she gave birth tonight. If she did, Logan could lose his son. Who would want to be with the woman who killed his child?

Her chin started to quiver as she glanced at the clock once more. Still no Logan. Maybe he did blame her. She felt worthless, not even being able to give birth correctly, something that every woman on the face of this planet was made to do. Yet, here she was, screwing up the most natural process in the world. It was as if she had completely failed at her purpose in life. She was a failure. Why would Logan want a failure?

She kept telling herself that she had to be strong. She had to be optimistic. Everything would be fine. They would stop the labor and she would give birth, at a much later date, to a perfectly healthy baby boy. Unfortunately, she couldn't get the nagging voice out of her head, telling her that everything may not be okay.

When did she get like this? When did she ever let herself become so weak. She used to be strong. She used to be independent. She didn't need her husband holding her hand and telling her everything would be alright to calm herself. She used to be able to do it all on her own.

When did she start thinking that the ability to bear children determined if a woman was a failure? There was a time in her life when she considered never even having children. She would travel the world and see everything, write about everything. She wouldn't have children at home to tie her down. She would be the most worldly and successful woman in the journalism business. Now look what she had become.

She was an unemployed mother of two-soon to be three- children living off the spoils of her husband's paycheck. The closet she got to reporting on the world was watching CNN while she vacuumed the living room. She had become the one thing that she hated. When did that happen?

She glanced around the room, her eyes falling on her rather large Coach monogrammed bag she had decided to buy on a whim just the other day while she was at the mall. She started to hate the idea of carrying that bag around ever again. That bag alone could pay someone's rent for a month.

Designer brands had never bothered her before. She and her mother had been known to splurge on more than one occasion. And, truth be told, a Coach bag was nothing compared to other pricey purses on the market. It was the fact that she didn't do anything to earn that bag that made her sick. It wasn't even hers. It was Logan's. Everything she owned was Logan's. He gave her everything.

She had one thing to give him. She had one thing, and it was living inside her right at this moment. And giving him a child brought her so much happiness she couldn't even describe it. Yet, at this moment, she couldn't help but feel…resentful.

She had turned into Shira Huntzberger.

* * *

"What do you mean I can't see her do you have any idea who I am!?!" 

Logan heard the angry yell as he walked back into the maternity ward. This was just fantastic. After everything he had gone through tonight now he got to deal with an angry elitist snob who thought that he was so entitled he had the right to make everyone else's experience here miserable so that he could get his way.

"Let me tell you something, you wouldn't have a job if it wasn't for me…"

If only he had brought that flask with him, then maybe dealing with this wouldn't be as painful. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

"I have donated more money to this hospital than you will ever see in your life time and I want to see my daughter-in-law! Now!"

Come to think of it…that voice sounded eerily familiar. Turning the corner Logan's eyes went wide as he saw his father standing in front of the desk screaming at a quivering nurse. He ran over to them, grabbing his father's arms and pulling him away.

"Dad!" he yelled. "What the hell are you doing? You're making a scene. Jesus Christ this is a hospital for crying out loud." "Well maybe I wouldn't need to make a scene if these damn people would listen to reason." Mitchum yelled. "They won't let me into Rory's room! That's my grand-son she's carrying in there and I can't ever see if she's alright!"

"I'm sorry sir, but only your son is allowed inside the room…" A nurse tried to explain. Logan held up his hand and she stopped speaking.

"Thanks. I'll talk to him." Logan said, leading his father into the waiting room. Mitchum started to protest.

"Logan, where are you going I want to see Rory!" he bellowed.

"Dad, Rory's in a hospital room right now, trying to keep herself calm so that she doesn't have anymore contractions. Right now, I think seeing you, like this, wouldn't be beneficial to the cause. What are you even doing here anyway?"

"What am I doing here? You tell me that my grand-son is about to be born two months early and you expect me to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs!" Mitchum yelled. Logan sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Dad, listen, okay, I promise, your heir is safe alright. If anything happens, HPG will be fine after all I have another son." Logan spat out sarcastically, glaring at his father. Mitchum looked at his son with his mouth hanging open. He shifted his weight on his feet and relaxed his shoulders, glancing briefly to the right to collect his thoughts before looking at Logan again.

"Is that why you think I'm here? Insurance?" Logan glanced at the wall, unable to maintain eye contact any longer. "Logan…I love those kids." Logan scoffed.

"Yea, a hell of a lot more than you ever loved me."

"God Logan…" Mitchum said, shaking his head. "That's not true. Look I've done a lot of things I regret in regards to you. And I'm sorry. But I can't erase the past. All I can do is try to make up for it in the future. And if that means busting down the hospital door so that I can make sure your wife is given the best care she can be given then so help me God I'm going to bust down that door."

Logan stood in front of his father, staring at his shoes, his thoughts running through his head at a mile a minute. He looked up at his father and for the first time all night, he realized he wasn't alone anymore. He didn't have to be the strong one anymore. His bottom lip started to quiver and tears formed in his eyes.

"I'm so scared, Dad." He said crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm so scared." Mitchum drew his son into a hug and held him as his shoulders started to shake with sobs.

"He' gonna be okay. I promise. He's gonna be okay."

* * *

She wasn't afraid of the dark. She was a big girl. Big girls weren't afraid of the dark. That's what Daddy always said when he tucked her in after one of her nightmares. He always tucked her in after her nightmares but now he wasn't here and she couldn't sleep unless he tucked her back in. He would her that there was no such thing as monsters and that the dark was no different than the light….except that you couldn't see anything. 

What Ellie didn't understand about that logic was if you couldn't see anything, how did you know there weren't any monsters? They could sneak in after the lights go out and hide in places where it was hard to find them.

A shadow of a long bony arm started to sway back and forth on the wall and she could feel tears stinging at the back of her eyes. She clutched Ramón even tighter and closed her eyes, praying that it would go away when she opened them. It didn't.

She looked out the window, trying to see if the monster was watching her from outside but all she could see was a tree. Maybe he was hiding behind it.

Throwing her covers off, she jumped out of the pull out trundle bed and ran out of the room as fast as she could so they couldn't catch her before she reached the door, making as little noise as she could as to not wake her cousin. When she finally escaped her room and closed the door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Holding Ramón by the wing she tip toed across the hall to the master bedroom. She quietly walked up to the bed where she heard a loud snore and pulled on the hand that was dangling off the side.

"Uncle Josh…" she whispered, tugging a little harder when he didn't respond. "Uncle Josh!" he just kept on snoring and Ellie rolled her eyes before tip-toeing to the other side, raising her eyebrows when she realized no one was there. With one last look at her sleeping Uncle, Ellie walked downstairs to the living room where the TV was flashing.

She turned the corner and found her aunt sitting on the couch with a box of tissues, not really paying attention to the movie that was playing in the background. She walked up and tugged on her PJ pants.

"Aunt Honor?" she asked. Honor jumped with surprise at the presence of her niece.

"What are you doing up young lady?" she asked, lifting Ellie unto the couch next to her. "You should be asleep."

"I couldn't sleep. Daddy always tucks me back in after I have a nightmare. He scares all the monsters away." She explained, climbing on to her Aunt's lap. Honor smiled at the thought of her brother scaring his daughter's monsters away and stroked Ellie's hair as she leaned back in her embrace. "Daddy's are good about that aren't they?" Honor asked. Ellie nodded.

"Aunt Honor?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Why were you crying?" Honor sighed, trying to think of what to say. "Was it because of Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart. It was." She admitted.

"Is Mommy going to be okay?" Ellie asked, her eyes going wide with fear at the thought of something happening to her mother. "Amy Springer's Mommy went to the hospital last year and she never came back." Honor sighed, knowing all about the Springer family tragedy. She had died of Breast Cancer after a year of torturous chemo.

"Your Mommy's going to be fine Ellie. Amy's Mommy was sick for a very long time. It's a lot different from what happened to your Mom." Honor explained.

"If Mommy is going to be okay then why were you crying?" Ellie asked. Honor shifted her position on the couch in order to be fully alert when explaining this to her niece.

"It's not your Mommy I'm worried about it's your little brother."

"What's wrong with him?" Ellie asked.

"Well, you see, when a baby is inside a Mommy's belly it has to stay there for a certain amount of time so that it can get big enough to get out. Just like you have to stay in Kindergarten before you can be big enough to go to the first grade. But your little brother wants to come out before he's big enough and that might make him very sick."

"Then why doesn't he just stay inside?" Ellie asked. Honor chuckled at the little girls innocence and tried to stop herself from crying all over again.

"I don't know sweetheart. I guess he just really wants to meet his cool big sister." Honor said, ruffling the little girls already tousled hair. Ellie smiled.

"Father Thomas says that if someone is sick we should ask for God's help to make them better." Ellie said. Honor looked down at her niece, surprised by her words. The Huntzberger's had never been a very religious family. She knew Logan wasn't raising his daughter to think like that, but, after-all, he did send her to a catholic school.

"I think that's a great idea, sweetheart. Why don't you say a prayer for your little brother before you go back to sleep." Ellie nodded and hopped off her aunt's lap walking back up the stairs. As Honor watched her leave, she couldn't help but offer up a few prayers herself.

Maybe it was time to invest in something other than money to solve her problems.

**TBC…**


	8. She's So Lucky

Oh my goodness! I am so sorry about the delay in this chapter. I have been so unbelievably busy lately I haven't had anytime at all to sit down and write. Thank you all so much for your reviews! You guys are amazing really! I'm sorry if I didn't respond to some people. For some reason it seems that every time I update Fan Fiction goes crazy and stops sending my e-mails so I don't know who I respond to and who I don't. If you were skipped just know that I'm grateful for the review and I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. Keep it up guys! 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Chapter Eight**

**She's So Lucky**

"Are you kidding me?" Rory asked, her eyebrows raised and her mouth hanging open. Standing next to the bed that she was currently lying on was her husband, dressed and ready to head off to work.

"No..." Logan said as if he were explaining something to his four year old son. "I am completely and totally serious. I don't know why you would think I was kidding..."

"This is insane!" Rory said, gesturing to the room around her. When the doctor ordered her to go on complete bed rest after stopping her contractions just a couple days ago, Logan had apparently gone completely insane. This was the first day she was allowed at home and Logan was going through extreme measures to make sure she didn't set foot out of their bedroom at all.

On the floor next to the bed was a small refrigerator, stocked with water, milk, orange juice, some apples, and some bananas. He had moved the TV right up to the edge of the bed, so that if she wanted to change the DVD all she had to do was crawl a couple feet down. He had gone to target and spent a fortune on DVD box sets. She had the entire series of Friends, the Office, Sex and the City, Scrubs, Veronica Mars, South Park, Seinfeld, not to mention all the classic movies he had stocked up on. He moved her bookshelf right next to the bed, giving her access to anything she wanted to read. Her laptop was lying on the bed next to her.

"It's not insane. It's necessary." Logan insisted. "Oh before I forget..." he said, walking over to the dresser and picking up something black and square. He handed the object to her and looked at it with complete shock. She glanced between Logan and the object, trying hard to decipher from his face whether or not he was serious. "What?" he asked. Rory opened her mouth at him before gesturing to the trinket in her hand.

"This is Jake's walkie talkie..." She said.

"Yes..."

"You stole your son's toy to give to me so that I don't have to move the ten feet to the door to call the maid myself." Logan nodded, not catching his wife's point.

"Logan, this is ridiculous! When Dr. Meyer put me on bed rest she wasn't confining me to the bed! I can walk to the _kitchen_!" Rory insisted, gesturing to the refrigerator. "I just have to take it easy. This is nuts. You can't expect me to stay in bed for _weeks_! What if I have to pee?" she asked.

"Well...you can use a bed pan..." Logan suggested with a shrug.

"We don't have a bed pan!" Logan's eyebrows tensed in thought until suddenly a memory sprung on him.

"Tupperware!" he exclaimed. "I'll be right back!" He moved to walk out the door.

"Logan, no!" Rory commanded, ushering him back into the bedroom. "You're sweet but I'm going to have to get up every once and while. Thank you for the thought and the refrigerator and the DVDs. This means so much to me. I thought for a while that you were disappointed in me and it hurt and I felt awful but after all this...It's just amazing and I appreciate the thought so much but I'm going to have to move occasionally. Don't worry so much."

"You thought I was disappointed in you?" Logan asked in concern as he sat on the bed next to his wife. Rory started to fidget with the blankets and nodded, avoiding his gaze. When she felt Logan's hand slip into hers she looked up at him, noting the look of concern etched in his features. He urged her to explain with his eyes and Rory complied, sighing as she opened her mouth.

"In the hospital...I don't know. I guess it was the mixture of the meds and the trauma but...I couldn't help but feel like you were avoiding me, that you didn't want to look at the woman who almost killed your son..." Rory admitted, shaking her head as tears welled in her eyes.

"Rory..." Logan said, turning so that it was easier to look at her. When she dropped her head again to stare at the comforter, Logan tilted her chin to him, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "I never thought that. I love you so much. What happened wasn't your fault. You have to understand that. We could have never known that this would happen to us. You didn't do anything at all. I wasn't mad at you. I could never be mad at you for what happened. I was scared. I was so scared of what might happen to the baby and to you...I...I felt like...I had to be strong for you and at the time...I just...I couldn't handle it. I was a mess. I felt like I was failing you. I just wanted to work things out so that I could come back and take care of you..."

"No, Logan. I didn't want you to be strong for me. I just wanted you. I can't lean on you all the time. Sometimes we have to lean on each other. I was scared too. I was so scared. I was afraid that I was not only losing my child but that I was losing my husband too."

"Oh Ace..." Logan said, gathering her in a hug and burying his head in her neck. "You can never lose me. You're stuck with me forever whether you like it or not." Rory chuckled slightly.

"I love you so much." she said, hugging him in return.

"Daddy!" a voice called, causing the couple to break apart and turn to the door. Logan smiled at the sight of her daughter dressed in her school uniform with her backpack strapped behind her.

"Hi, princess." Logan said, standing up.

"Come on!" Ellie insisted, stomping her foot. "I'm gonna be late for school." Logan chuckled and kissed his wife one last time.

"Call me if you need anything at all." Rory smiled and nodded.

"I will." She assured. "Have fun at school sweetheart. Can I have a kiss?" Ellie bounced over to her mother and planted a kiss on her cheek. She hoped off the bed and into Logan's arms.

"Bye Mommy!" She said as she and Logan stepped out of the room. Rory sighed once her husband and daughter disappeared. She looked around the bedroom for a moment, trying to decide what she wanted to do. Grabbing a DVD and placing it in the player, she settled against the cushions and prepared to spend the day with her second favorite Logan. ...

* * *

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Logan filled with a sense of dread. He knew he had to leave. He had a meeting in about three minutes and he was going to be late if he didn't make his way to the conference room in a few seconds. However, leaving his office seat would leave his mischievous four year old son in the room alone and that was something he really didn't want to do. Moving his gaze down to the floor where Jake was lying on his stomach and coloring on a piece of Huntzberger Publishing Group stationary, Logan sighed. He didn't really have much of a choice. 

"Hey kiddo?" he called, causing Jake's head to snap up in his direction. "I have to go to a meeting. Can I trust you to stay in here by yourself?"

"Yea, Daddy. I'll be good. I pwomise." Jake assured. For some reason that didn't satisfy the young father's concerns. Reluctantly he stood up, gathering his brief case before looking over to his son one more time.

"I want you to stay in here until I get back. Do you understand? I don't want you to set one foot outside this door." Logan commanded firmly. Jake nodded as he continued to draw a series of stick figures on his piece of paper.

"Ok Daddy."

"If you need anything at all Mrs. Cook is right outside the door. Just stick your head out and ask her."

"Ok Daddy."

"And don't touch anything on my desk. If you need more paper to color on ask Mrs. Cook. She'll get it for you."

"Ok Daddy."

"Alright, and when I get back I'll take you out for some lunch. We'll get a veggie burger and brussel sprouts. Then we'll go dye your hair green and drop off all your toys at the Salvation Army."

"Ok Daddy." Logan groaned an rolled his eyes.

"Stay here." he commanded one last time before walking out the door. As she closed it behind him he turned to face his secretary who was sitting at a desk right outside his door.

"Mrs. Cook?" he asked. The elderly woman looked up at him and smiled. "I have to go to a quick meeting. Do you mind keeping an eye on Jake for me. He's just inside coloring. He should be fine but if you could just stick your head in there every once and a while and check to make sure he's not destroying anything I'd really appreciate it."

"Of course, dear. It's no problem at all." Mrs. Cook responded. Logan smiled at her before casting one more glance through his office window. He really didn't want to go to this meeting. When he had offered to bring his son into work today, he had planned on not letting the little trouble maker out of his sight. He had completely forgot about the meeting that he was expected to attend.

He stepped in the lounge briefly to grab a quick cup of coffee. He turned around, about to head back out the door when he bumped into someone. "I'm so-oh it's you, never mind." Logan said with a teasing smile as he noticed the familiar blonde.

"Always the charmer, Logan." Bobby replied, brushing past him to pour come coffee for herself. Logan smiled in response. "How's Rory? Is she alright?"

"Rory's great. I wouldn't have left her this morning if she hadn't forced me to come in. Apparently she's used to a house and food and all that stuff, though I think it's kind of over rated." Bobby laughed.

"So everything is fine with the baby then?"

"Rory is fine. The baby is fine. The doctor said that the labor should have been delayed for at least a couple weeks. It's not perfect but they say that every day in the womb at this time is two less days he would need to stay in the hospital for observation."

"Well that's good. I'm glad she's alright." Bobby said. "Where are the kids? You didn't leave her at home with them all by herself did you?"

"No, Ellie is in school and Jake is here with me." Logan answered. Bobby smiled coyly.

"Getting a head start on his training are we?" She teased, causing Logan to roll his eyes.

"That's not funny." Logan said. Training his son to take his place from four years of age was something that his father would do-did do. He wanted his son to make his own decisions in life. However, he certainly wouldn't be opposed if those decisions happened to include taking over the family business. "But if you call scribbling all over my stationary training then yes, that's exactly what's going on."

"Oh that's adorable..." Bobby said with a smile as she pictured her surrogate nephew coloring in his father's office. She had definite weak spot when it came to that little boy, though most people did. It seemed that only Logan and Rory were immune to his big brown eyes and innocent little face. Sometimes he fooled even them.

"Call it what you will, all I care about is that its quiet." Logan said with a smile. "I have to get going. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Logan." Bobby watched her friend leave with a smile on her face. Rory had no idea how lucky she was to have him. He was so amazing, always talking about his family and his home. He loved them more than anything on the face of the planet. It was hard to find a man in his position who cared more about his loved ones than his job status. Logan was a perfect example of the ideal male-smart, funny, considerate, dedicated, good looking, charming. He was perfect.

Shaking her head of her thoughts, Bobby left the break room. She walked past Logan's office, pausing as she saw a little boy lying on the ground through the window. She smiled at the sight and walked to the door, knocking before letting herself in. Jake's head snapped up and he smiled.

"Hi Aunt Bobby!" he cheered. "I drew a pit-ture for you!"

"You did?" Bobby asked as the little boy jumped up and handed her a picture of what she assumed was herself based on the long yellow hair. "Thank you so much. I'll hang it up on my desk."

"You're welcome."

"How would you like to help me with some work?" she asked.

"Daddy told me I had to stay here." Jake explained.

"Daddy won't be mad. I promise. I could really use the help." Bobby explained, knowing that Logan would probably be happier knowing she was keeping an eye on him rather than leaving him in here alone anyway.

"Okay!" Jake said, leaving his crayons behind and taking his aunt's hand.

* * *

Rory paused the television as the phone started to ring. Leaning over the side of the bed, she reached for the cordless, grunting as she was finally able to pick it up. After complaining that Logan had gone too far, she had finally realized that moving was a lot more difficult that she remembered. She was probably weak from the almost labor and her big belly was growing with every day that passed. Not that she could complain, really she preferred it this way. 

"Hello." she answered sharply.

"Are you okay? You sound mad." her mother pointed out. Rory rolled her eyes and relaxed once again against her pillows.

"I'm fine. Logan is just pissing me off." Rory explained.

"What? Why? What did he do?" Lorelai questioned in concern.

"He just smashed in Veronica's headlights! What a jack-ass!"

"Oh...I thought you were talking about your husband Logan!"

"No...I'll be sure to specify next time." Rory assured. "What do you need?"

"I was just checking in on my lovely bed-ridden daughter. How are you feeling?"

"I hate this bed rest thing already." Rory explained. "I'm going stir crazy. There is absolutely nothing to do. I feel like I could get so much accomplished if only I could walk around. I hate having to call someone to help me get to the bathroom which is like...five steps away from my bed. My back is starting to hurt from lying down all the time and I'm so bored! But...considering the alternative I'm happy to live with it."

"Well, I get what you mean. Hey, how about I come up there in a couple days! I'll bring some movies and snacks and we can have a marathon like the good old days. I could even bring Lane and the twins with me. I'm sure they'd be happy to see Ellie and Jake."

"That sounds nice." Rory said with a smile. "I haven't seen them in so long."

"It's a date!" Lorelai cheered. "I'll talk to her at Luke's today and call you back. You take it easy now. Make sure my grandson comes out fully baked. I don't want him all soggy in the middle."

"I promise a completely firm and golden around the edges grandson to add to your collection. That is if I don't die of boredom before he pops out."

"Nope you won't die from boredom. You've built up a tolerance after years of Gilmore and Huntzberger functions. You can handle even the most boring of situations." Lorelai explained. Rory laughed. "I've got to go. Michel is harassing the guests again. You take it easy."

"I will. Bye Mom. Say hi to everyone for me!"

"Will do. Bye, sweets. I love you!" With that Rory hung up the phone and pressed play on the DVD remote, just in time for Weevil to come and save the day. Dodger, who had taken up residence at the foot of the bed, walked up to her and rested his head on her lap. She smiled at him and scratched behind his ears.

"Just you and me, buddy."

* * *

Standing on the chair that he had dragged up to the side of the copy machine, Jake watched intently as the pretty blonde lady closed the lid over the piece of paper she set down. He lifted his head up to look at her, his eyes shining with excitement, not pausing to think about the laugh that escaped her lips as a result. She nodded her head and with a dramatic jab of his finger, Jake pressed the large green button, causing papers to shoot out the side of the machine at lightening speed. 

"Alright! Good job!" the blonde cheered in a perky english accent. She raised her hand in the air and Jake took the hint, lifting his own hand to meet hers in the air.

"Aren't you supposed to be waiting in my office?" the voice of his father called from behind him. Jake turned around and looked at Logan with wide eyes. His father had told him to stay put. He really didn't want to face his wrath after moving.

"Jacob has been helping me make copies, haven't you, love?" Bobby jumped in, coming to the child's rescue. Logan raised an eyebrow at her. "He's been my little helper all morning."

"Yea, Daddy! I was helpin Aunt Bobby make copies!"

"What else have you done?" Bobby asked, ruffling the child's hair.

"I stapled some papers and I used the puncher to make holes and I brought a folder to the lady at the desk!" Logan could no longer suppress the grin that broke out on his face. Jake hoped off the chair, causing the "ID" made of construction paper and yarn tied around his neck to flap around in the air. On one side was his name, written in crayon and hardly legible and on the other side was a stick figure with blonde hair.

"You sound like you've been busy." Logan commented, winking at Bobby who was smiling at the little boy as he walked over to stand next to his father. He wrapped his arm around Logan's leg and Logan ran his hand through his son's unruly hair.

"He's been very busy indeed. You might have to start putting him on the payroll." Bobby said.

"Yea!" Jake exclaimed, tilting his head to look up at his father. Logan laughed.

"Alright, how does twenty-five cents an hour sound?" Logan asked. Jake's eyes went wide with excitement and Logan laughed out loud. Her reached into his pocket, pulling out a quarter and flipped it the air, catching it and handing it to his son. "There you go buddy. You're first paycheck. Spend it wisely."

"Cool!" Jake exclaimed, staring at the coin in amazement before shoving it in his pocket.

"You just remember that salary in case you ever work for me when you're older." Logan said. Jake nodded emphatically.

"Okay!" Logan laughed out loud once again and ruffled his hair. "Come on kiddo. We've got to go pick up your sister from school." he said before turning his attention to Bobby. "Thanks for keeping an eye on him. I appreciate it."

"Anytime." Bobby said with a smile. "I love your kids. They're practically family."

"That's good to know. See you later." Logan said, grabbing his sons hand and walking toward the elevators. Bobby watched them leave with a smile. Rory was very lucky, very lucky indeed.

* * *

"Honey I'm home!" Logan called as he walked into his bedroom later that evening. Rory turned off the TV and turned to face him, smiling at the sight of him. FInally, she had someone to talk to other than herself and the phone.

"Hey!" she greeted as he came over and kissed her on the cheek. "How was your day?"

"Fantastic." Logan said as he began to shed his shirt. "Jake was an angel. Didn't have any problems at all. Ellie decided that she wanted to go over to Gracie's house instead of my office so I didn't have to worry about her. I picked her up on my way home."

"I'm sorry. Did you just say that Jake was an angel?" Rory asked, not quite believing her ears. "Our Jake? Jacob Lucas Huntzberger? The child that I birthed, that is your clone in every way possible, physically and temperamentally?"

"That's the one." Logan said, stepping out of his pants and into the closet. He raised his voice so his wife would hear him. "He colored in my office all morning and when I had to go to a meeting he helped Bobby make copies and staple things. He had a blast, earned seventy-five cents." Logan walked out of the closet wearing a pair of sweat and a tee-shirt with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh...he helped Bobby huh? He didn't pick up her accent did he?"

"Ace..." Logan said with a roll of his eyes. "Not again..."

"What? Okay...I know she's your colleague, blah blah blah. I get it. She's just..."

"Not a big swarthy dude?" Logan offered, knowing what she was thinking after having the same conversation over and over again over a period of years. Rory smiled tersely.

"She's growing on me, slowly but surely." Rory said.

"Well good." Logan replied, sitting on the edge of the bed and kissing her briefly on the lips. "You want me to get you some dinner?"

"Yes please."

"Alright. I'll be back in a second." Logan slipped out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs. Rory smiled as she watched him leave. She really was lucky.

**TBC...**


	9. Look Who's Cursing

I'm horrible. I know. I'm so so so so so sorry. I really can't believe how long this chapter took. I could give you a thousand excuses but in the end I know you don't really care. Let's just say life got in the way for a while there. However, the chapter is done finally. Thank you all so so much for sticking with me. I'll try as hard as I can to make sure that never happens again. Anyway, here's the chapter. I hope you all enjoy. All I'm going to say about it is...remember that I am one of the biggest Rogan fans in the world and I love happy endings. That's all I'm going to say. 

**Disclaimer:** Even after all the time that has passed I still don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Chapter Nine**

**Look Who's Cursing**

"Can I play?" the redundant question went unanswered for the third time now. Jake had made himself comfortable in his blue bean bag chair in front of the playroom TV. His view was blocked, however, by the three heads of Cameron and the twins as they grappled with remote controls. When he once again received silence he leaned forward in his chair and tugged on his cousin's tee-shirt. "Cameron can I play?" He asked again. The eight year old wiggled Jake's hand off of his shirt and sighed in exasperation.

"No Jake!" He finally answered, moving his body along with the remote in his hands, trying to steer his virtual race car through an underground tunnel. "We already started the game. Besides you're too little."

"I am not!" Jake insisted. "It's my game!"

"It doesn't matter. You're littler than us. We'd just beat you and then you would go cry or something."

"That's not true! I'm not a cry baby!" Jake whined, leaning back and snuggling into a ball on his bean bag chair. Cameron groaned, at this point thoroughly annoyed with his four year old cousin.

"You're being one right now."

"Am not!" Jake shouted, standing up and punching Cameron on the arm, causing him to yell out from the quick burst of pain. Cameron reached out and pushed him back. Jake fell with an 'oomph' on the ground behind him.

"Here." Cameron said, throwing a tiny little Hot Wheels corvette at his cousin. "Go play with your baby toys, cry baby." Jake stood up and glared at Cameron one last time. He threw the car back on the ground and delivered a swift kick into his cousins back. Cameron turned around to grab Jake's ankle and pull him to the ground. He wanted more than anything to beat the crap out of the little pest but decided to let him go. All he would do was end up getting in trouble for unfairly fighting with his little cousin who was half his size. Jake ran out of the play room and slammed the door behind him.

He wiped the tears off his eyes with the back of his hand and scowled. He wasn't a cry baby. He was a big boy now. He just turned four years old. Next year he would be in the oldest class at his pre-school. Three year old were babies, not him. He decided to forget Cameron and the twins. They weren't any fun anyway. Who wanted to play video games all night long? Glancing down the hall he decided to see if Ellie would play with him. He knocked on her door and walked in to the sight of Ellie and Lizzie playing Barbies on her bedroom floor.

"Ugh!" He said, sticking his tongue out and faking a gag at the sight of them. Girls were so stupid. Why did they always want to play with dolls and brush their hair? How was that any fun at all? At least with G.I. Joe's you got to run around and pretend to shoot things. "I hate girls!" he exclaimed. Ellie sneered at him and threw a hairbrush toward him. It ended up hitting the wall net to him and he stuck his tongue out at her. "Nice aim." he taunted. Ellie stuck her tongue out out him in return.

"If you hate girls so much then go away!" she said. Jake rolled his eyes and walked out of his sister's bedroom, not noticing that Lizzie had sprung up from her seat on the floor and decided to follow him. She bounced up beside him as he walked down the hallway, startling him, and causing him to roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Hi Jake." She said happily. She could be really annoying sometimes. Just because they were the same age she always tried to play with him. She just couldn't get through her head that girls weren't any fun at all. She never wanted to play with action figures, or trucks, or roll around in the mud. She couldn't even play catch very well. The only thing she was good at was tag but she didn't like to play it.

"Hi Lizzie..." he sighed.

"Wanna play hide and seek?" she asked. Jake turned to her and smiled, an idea forming in his mind.

"Sure! You hide and I'll come find you!" he said with fake enthusiasm.

"Okay!" she cheered, scampering off down the stairs toward the living room. Jake rolled his eyes. Girls were so gullible. He walked a little further down the hallway and turned left, walking down the other flight of stairs that led into the kitchen. Once he reached the bottom he turned the corner and stopped at the basement door, hearing the sound of laughter coming from downstairs. He smiled. He knew one place that would be fun and that he wouldn't get kicked out of. Reaching up and turning the knob with slight difficulty, he opened the door and slipped down the carpeted steps to what his mother referred to as "Daddy's playroom." The only problem with playing with his dad and uncles was the fact that most of the time he had no idea what they were talking about. As he heard their voices, he realized that this would be yet another one of those times.

* * *

"Put the chips on the table, mate, before I do it for you." Finn said in exasperation, leaning back in his chair. Colin was holding his head in his hands, looking seriously disturbed at the thought of placing even one more penny in that pot. Logan face was starting to hurt form keeping his smirk down. In his mind was silently begging Colin to fold and he was just about ready to do just that. "Colin!" Finn yelled.

After years and years of experience Logan knew just what it took to turn a hand in his favor, even a hand as horrible as the hand in his...well...hand. If he played his cards right, no pun intended, he could walk away with the pot, taking Colin for everything he had with nothing but a three fours and two kings. It was amazing that after all those years in law school and experience with even the most meticulous of liars, Colin was still a horrible poker player. Perhaps it was because in this game he actually had money on the line while, in court, he got paid win or lose. Lord knew he was way to stingy to just let a few hundred slide without a fight.

"Will you shut up Finn! I'm not losing anymore money than I have to!" Logan suppressed a laugh.

"Don't worry boys. I've got all night." Logan said, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes we know, Logan." Colin said, glaring at his friend across the table. "However not all of us do. Some of us have women to fuck when we get home."

"Burn!" Finn shouted, laughing as Logan threw an unappreciative glance in Colin's direction.

"Oh yea...yea that's funny Colin. You go ahead and play that card. It is such a shame that my wife is eight months pregnant on bed rest after going through pre-mature labor so now we can't have sex. Wow...you got me man. That's hilarious. Tell me...how many kids do you have again?"

"And ladies and gentlemen..." Josh shouted in an announcer like voice.

"...I think we have a winner." Zack finished. After years of getting together for the sake of Rory and Lane, he and Logan had developed quite a bond. Their friendship had given them something to do instead of holding their wives' purses as they walked through the mall. Tonight, Zack had opted to tag along with Lorelai and Lane after being promised a night of poker.

Logan looked down to his right as he felt a pulling on his pant leg. Standing on the floor next to him was Jake, his eyebrows scrunched and his face contorted into a look of confusion.

"Daddy what does fu-"The little boy was interrupted by a chorus of whoas and no's as Logan pulled him up in his lap. Finn was laughing so hard that no sound was coming out of his mouth and his eyes were starting to tear up.

"You don't worry about what that word means okay, buddy. Uncle Colin is in big trouble for not watching his big fat mouth around you." Logan said, glaring one more time at his friend.

"Hey you didn't know he was in here either. You should keep a better eye on your own kid!" Colin insisted.

"Just bet Colin!" Logan spat. Colin looked down at his card again, bringing the conversation back to where is was minutes ago.

"What are you doin', Daddy?" Jake asked, looking at the cards in Logan's hand.

"I'm playing poker, kiddo." Logan responded.

"How do you play poker?" Jake asked. Logan sighed, knowing that the logic of the game was a little much for a four year old to handle.

"Well...you try to get the biggest cards you can and if you do then you win." Logan explained, knowing that with his basic knowledge of the playing card hierarchy his son would understand.

"Oh..." Jake said, leaning back against his father's chest. However, Jake wasn't satisfied with that answer. "If you win with more big cards than how come you have three fours and only two kings?" Logan growled and threw his head back in exasperation as Colin jumped up from his seat, dancing. The lawyer threw his cards on the table, beating Logan with three nines and two queens.

"I believe this is mine Huntzberger!" he shouted, gathering all the chips in the middle for himself and counting them one by one. "It hurts doesn't it, all that hard earned cash down the drain? Five hundred...six hundred...oh wait oh wait..." Colin said, picking up a golden chip. "...I think this is a dime isn't it? Ouch. That hurts."

Logan was beating his head against the back of his chair as Jake looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "I''m sorry Daddy." Logan sighed and squeezed his son's shoulder.

"That's okay, buddy. It's just a game."

"Come on Huntz!" Colin continued. "Didn't Daddy ever teach you not to beg that big on a bluff?"

"Didn't your Daddy ever teach you that storing all that money up your butt can lead to unnecessary strain?" Logan shot back. "Sit down and deal." Logan turned his attention to Jake who was still sitting contently on his lap. "You ready to help me win back all those chips from Uncle Colin?"

"Yep yep."

"Alright." Logan said as five cards were dealt to him one by one. "Throw some of those chips into the pile." Jake did as he was told and leaned back in Logan's lap. "You gentlemen don't stand a chance against us Huntzberger men. Isn't that right, Jacob?"

"That's right."

"You bet your ass that's right." Logan said in agreement, bouncing his son on his knee and causing him to break out into a round of giggles.

* * *

"I hate you." Rory said dryly as she looked at the movie selection her mother had presented to her.

"Is that something to say to the woman who birthed you? Who carried you inside her for nine excruciating months!" Lorelai said, sitting next to her immobile daughter on the couch. Rory glared, knowing that her mother was trying to play on her emotions right now. Sitting in a bed for days on end was starting to take a toll on not only her psyche but her body as well. Her back was starting to hurt non stop, her feet were constantly falling asleep from the lack of circulation and she couldn't get up to walk away the incessant tingling, leaving her no choice but to suffer the annoying torture. She had vowed on more than one occasion that this child would pay for this somehow...and her revenge would be sweet.

"Don't start with me." Rory groaned. "Play what you must." Lorelai laughed and jumped up from the couch, grabbing the DVD's and showing them to the other women who had gathered for their movie and ice cream night.

"Alright ladies." Lorelai started in a cheery voice. "Let's take a vote shall we? We have Look Who's Talking, Look Who's Talking too, and Look Who's Talking Now, Three Men and a Baby, Baby Geniuses, Nine Months, Fools Rush In, Rosemary's Baby, and last but most certainly not least Bringing up Baby." Rory rolled her eyes.

"You do realize that Bringing Up Baby doesn't actually have anything to do with babies right?" Rory asked.

"So?"

"So doesn't that kinda ruin your funny little theme here?" Rory insisted. Lorelai shrugged her shoulders.

"Theme? I don't know what you're talking about." Lorelai said, innocently. Lizzie, who after growing tired of waiting Jake to find her, was sitting on the chair next to her mother started to laugh at the mother and daughter. Rory pointed to the little girl, emphasizing her point.

"If a five year old can see it. I think you can too! Don't act stupid. You're doing this to annoy me!" Rory yelled, her nostrils flaring. Lizzie started to laugh at her aunt once again, causing Rory to snap her head in the child's direction. "Does this looks like a laughing matter to you, missy?" Lizzie eyes went wide in surprise and Honor bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Sweetheart why don't you go back up and play with Ellie in her room, okay?" The blonde bounced upstairs to play with her cousin, leaving the women alone.

"Rory, I really have no idea what you're referring to." Lorelai defended. "I just grabbed some movies on my way out the door."

"Uh-huh...and the fact that they're all about babies completely passed your mind?"

"Hmm...well now that you mention it they do all revolve around that certain theme now don't they?" Lorelai said, putting a finger to her chin and looking over her selection once more.

"Cut the crap." Rory said, leaning back against the cushions. "Three Men and a Baby." Lorelai skipped happily to the DVD player, taking pride in the fact that she was able to make her pregnant daughter concede. Pregnancy made Rory even more stubborn than she usually was. Lorelai blamed it on the hormones.

Rory settled herself on the couch, propping her feet up on the arm rest and arranging the pillows into the perfect mush position. WIth just a few rocks of her body she was able to work her way into the most comfortable position she could manage in her state. She had almost let herself completely relax when she was startled back into attention at the sound of the basement door opening, letting in the jovial chorus of the men downstairs. An instant later the door slammed and a little blond came trotting around the corner. He ran into the living room and waled right up to the couch where Rory was lying.

"Hey you." She greeted the little boy. "I thought you were upstairs with Cameron and the Twins." Jake shook his head.

"They said I was too little to play with them." Jake explained.

"They did?" Rory asked, raising her eyebrows. As much as she wanted to she couldn't be angry at the boys, however. After all Cameron was eight years old and was the he youngest of the trio. The age difference between the cousins had been a continuous problem over the years. It probably would be until they were much older.

"Jake, you go upstairs and tell them that Aunt Lane says they have to let you play with them or she'll make them join Grandma's choir." Lane said. Honor nodded her head in agreement.

"Tell Cameron that goes the same for him too. I have no problems driving him to Stars Hollow to broaden his religious views."

"That's okay." Jake said, shrugging his shoulders and attempting to climb on the couch next to his mother. "They're boring anyway. All they wanna do is play video games." Rory smiled as she moved in order to accommodate him. Jake settled himself against his mother, his face pressed snugly in her chest and his back curving slightly to accommodate her swollen belly. Rory smiled as the movie began to play and ran her fingers softly over Jake's blonde head. The boy had almost drifted off to sleep when he felt a jab in his stomach, jolting him awake.

"What was that?" he asked, his eyes wide with bewilderment. The women gathered in the living room let out a collective chuckle.

"That was your little brother. He wanted to say hi to you." Rory explained, running her thumb across his cheek. Jake cast an uncertain glance at Rory's stomach, his brow contorting into a look of astonishment.

"He can move in there?" he asked, making the women giggle even harder than before, as an adorable four year old he was used to making girls giggle. His mother claimed that if he was anything like his father he would be doing it for the rest of his life.

"That's right. See." Rory lifted up her tee shirt, letting her son see her belly and the moving bump that was being created by the baby's foot. Jake's mouth popped open and he reached out slowly, hesitating as to whether or not he should touch it. "Go ahead." Rory coached, and he placed his hand on her belly, retracting it as soon as he felt another kick. "He likes you."

"Did I do that when I was in your tummy, Mommy?" Rory smiled once again.

"You certainly did." Rory confirmed. "You used to like it when your Daddy would let you listen to his iPod." Rory grinned at the memories of when Logan would put his head phones on her stomach, much to her protest. Logan had always insisted that listening to music in the womb was supposed to raise a child's IQ level. Rory would then remind him that it was called the Mozart Effect for a reason. The babies should be listening to Beethoven not Modest Mouse. Regardless of what was playing Jake had always gone crazy, kicking and summersaulting up a storm.

"How could I listen to his iPod if i didn't have any ears?" Jake asked. Rory laughed again.

"Well he'd put the headphones right on my belly so you could hear."

"So he can hear things inside there too?"

"You bet."

"Can he hear us talking?" Jake asked.

"Sure he can, sweetheart." Jake shifted himself down on the couch so that his face was parallel with his mother's stomach. He placed his hands on either side of her and leaned in, letting his mouth get close to her skin.

"Hi Cody." he greeted, sparking the sudden chorus of 'Aw, Cody, I love that name!" from his aunts and grandmother. "It's me, Jacob, your big brother. I promise I won't ever pass up playing with Hot Wheels cause I want to play video games. Cause Hot Wheels are fun and they're not for babies!"

"You let it out, baby." Rory coached, holding in a chuckle at her little boy's statement. It had sounded so passionate and heartfelt. What more could she expect from a four year old?

"I'm not a baby!' Jake argued. Rory laughed, lifting back up to her chest and wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"I'm sorry. You let it out young man. How was that?"

"Better." Jake said, snuggling into his mother's embrace. He was lulled into a comfortable trance by the sound of her heartbeat against his ear and the gentle rise and fall of her chest from her breathing.

"Did you have fun with Daddy?" Rory asked. Jake nodded enthusiastically against her chest and Rory broke out into a huge grin.

"Good. I'm glad." No words were more true.

"He taught me how to play poker!" Jake exclaimed, lifting his head and looking his mother in the eye.

"He did? Did you win?" Rory asked

"You bet your ass we did!" The room fell silent and four heads turned slowly to stare at the four year old. His brow furrowed, confused as to why they were looking at him like that.

"What did you just say?" Lorelai asked from chair next to them.

"Jake don't say that word." Lane and Honor said at the same time.

"I'm sorry." Jake said to his mother who was staring at him. Her eyes started to form into an angry expression as her gaze tore away from Jake and toward the kitchen.

"Logan Elias Huntzberger! Get up here right now! I mean it!"

* * *

From the couch, Rory heard a final goodbye come from Logan's lips and the front door closing. The clip clop of Logan's shoes started to sound through the hall as he walked closer and closer to the living room. He walked in and sat on the chair across from the couch, slipping off his shoes and leaning back against the cushions with deep throaty sigh.

"I am so tired." he stated. Rory remind stoic on the couch and flipped the next page of her magazine as loudly as she possibly could, making it clear to Logan that she was under no conditions listening to him. Logan watched his wife for a moment, trying to figure out a way to dig himself out of this hole. He knew his chances were slim. Rory was walking on a thin rope lately, even the tiniest things could set her off for days with no hope if talking any sense into her.

"Tonight was fun. We should do it again sometime." he commented again, still receiving no supply. He could tell by the way her lips tightened and her eyebrows twitched slightly that she wanted to say something. However, punishing him was much more fun.

"Did you have a good time?" Logan asked, knowing that he would in fact getting Rory to answer him with a direct question.

"Sure." She said, licking her finger and turning the page of the magazine once again.

"Good." Logan commented, slightly disappointed that he didn't get a longer answer. "So did I. I haven't had a good poker night in a long time."

"So how much money _did_ you lose exactly?" Logan inwardly winced. He should have known better to talk about gambling when Rory was mad at him. He sighed, trying to think of as vague of an answer as he could.

"I don't know...a couple hundred. That's all." he answered.

"Oh is that all? Good. I'm glad. That's only a car payment." Logan brought his hands to his temples and started to rub the tension of his forehead in counter-clockwise circles.

"Yea...Zack won as per usual...You know I think the only reason Lane let's him play with such high stakes is because he always comes home with the pot. He's got to be cheating...or psychic I don't know." Rory didn't laugh.

"I'm beat. I think I'm going to go to bed. Do you want some help getting upstairs?"

"I'm fine. I think I'm actually just going to sleep on the couch tonight." Rory stated. Logan threw his head back and groaned.

"Rory..." he started, finally having enough of the small talk. He wanted to get to the bottom of this problem once and for all.

"It's just that I'm already comfortable here. I don't want to go all the way upstairs just to get in bed and take hours to relax again."

"Yea...I'm sure that's it." Logan commented sarcastically.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rory asked, finally looking up from her magazine and making eye contact with her husband.

"It means that you're pissed at me. But Jesus Christ Rory is this really that big of a deal?"

"Is it that big of a deal?" Rory repeated incredulously. "Do you know what my four year old son said to me tonight?"

"Trust me. I know. I've heard it over and over again for the past three hours." Logan said, his anger finally boiling over the edge. Rory rolled her eyes and threw the magazine on the coffee table, giving this argument her full attention. "He was going to start cursing eventually, Rory. You should grateful that the first phrase to come from his mouth was a positive one."

"You're right, Logan. I should be thankful. I should be so happy that after spending fifteen minutes with his father in the basement his vocabulary expanded so immensely that he now knows how to use the word ass in a positive way. Wow...I mean...thank you so much. Now when I'm walking through the mall and my son starts cursing in front of everyone I can look at them an smile while I say 'Hey...at least he's using it to express happiness and not anger.' Thank you so much for that, Logan."

"What do you want me to say here, Rory? I've apologized a thousand times. There's only so much I can do. I told you that I would talk to him about it in the morning. What else do you want from me? Do you want me to call up the Doc and ask to borrow the Delorean? Because that didn't work out so great for Marty. I doubt that it would go much better for me."

"Could you take something seriously for five minutes, please?" Rory asked.

"I am taking it seriously. I'm doing everything I can to rectify the situation including trying to put it behind us but that's definitely not working."

"Don't try to make me the bad guy here, Logan." Rory warned, narrowing her eyes.

"Why not? You've been making me the bad guy all night."

"Well it's your fault Logan! Right now you are the bad guy!" Logan scoffed and started to shake his head. He was about to retort when Rory interrupted him. "How am I supposed to trust you with our son if every time he spends any time with you at all he comes back saying all kinds of things that shouldn't be coming out of his mouth?"

"How are you supposed to trust me?" Logan asked in disbelief. "I'm his father!"

"Well at this pace if he spends an hour with his father every night he'll be rivaling Howard Stern by the time he's five." Logan scoffed again, tearing his gaze away from her.

"This is so typical." he said under his breath, not soft enough to keep Rory from hearing it.

"Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?"

"That's supposed to mean that I can't do anything right by you. Can I?" Logan asked, throwing his arms out in the air as he pacing the living room. Rory sighed, shaking her head in annoyance.

"You are so melodramatic."

"Am I? I work my ass off _every_ _single_ day!" He started. "I try to give you a nice home, a comfortable living, your _fucking_ Chanel sun glasses and Fendi purses."

"I _never_ asked for those!" Rory shouted. "I would carry around a Wal-Mart bag if I had to! You _know_ that!"

"You still have them! I try to give my kids the ability to go to the best schools, to get the best education they can. I live under more stress every hour than most people do in a year to make sure I can provide for this family but that's not enough for you! I'm never here. I'm always gone! My kids are growing up without a father..."

"Do you _dare_ say that like it's not a big deal! You know more than anyone what growing up without a father around is like!"

"I never said it wasn't a big deal! I said it was a big deal! I made sure that I got home to spend more time with them! Do you have any idea what I have to do in a day to get home by seven!?! I don't sit. I don't eat. I don't pee. And I'm happy to do it. You know I love those kids! I haven't been home late for three months! I've spent every single night with them and now you're pissed about that!"

"I _never_ said that!"

"You just did!" Logan yelled. "You can't trust me with them! If they spend any more time with me they'll be talking like Howard Stern!"

"That's not what I meant..." Rory said weakly.

"Then what the hell did you mean?" Logan asked. Rory stayed silent as tears started to fall down her cheeks. She tore her gaze away from him and looked at her hands. "Whatever...Sleep on the couch. I don't give a shit." With that Logan walked up the stairs, passing the kids' rooms and coming to master bedroom. He opened the door and walked inside, closing it behind him with a slam that shook the house.

Meanwhile, in a twin sized bed with a pink and white striped down comforter wrapped snuggly around two tiny blond frames a little boy jumped at the sound. His crying little sister wrapped her arms around him tighter as he buried his face in her neck and started to shake.

"Ellie?"

"Yea, Jake."

"Are Mommy and Daddy gonna get a diborce?"

"I don't know, Jake." Ellie said, looking over her her little brother shoulder to a picture frame of her family in Disney World. "I hope not."

* * *

**Please don't hate me... / Lol. Don't forget to review! **


	10. Broken Family, Broken Water

Hello again everyone! The next chapter is here. See, I told you I wouldn't make you wait as long for this one. It still was a pretty long time though wasn't it? Sorry about that. Losing my Study Hall last semester really threw a wrench in my writing time. Anyway, thank you all once again for the amazing reviews! Really you have no idea how awesome you are. Don't be afraid to review if I take too long to update. I really don't mind. In fact those reviews are kinda a guilty motivator. Lol. Thanks again! Hope you like the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Gilmore Girls. If I did...well...certain people would be compensated to make sure we got another season. :(

**Chapter Ten**

**Broken Family, Broken Water**

After taking what seemed like hours to straighten his tie, he finally decided to let it go. Rory hadn't said a word to him all morning and he had been sulking around the room, hoping to get some attention for long enough. He walked to the door and placed his hand on the doorknob, hoping that this action would finally inspire some words to come out of her mouth. When he was met with silence he sighed and slumped his shoulders.

Yesterday hadn't been any better. After trying to talk to her for hours, she finally asked if he would help her upstairs to bed, claiming that her back was starting to hurt from the couch after sleeping on it last night. Logan had bit his lip to keep from yelling at her passive aggressive remark. She was the one who didn't want to sleep with him. It wasn't his fault.

"I'm leaving." he said with a sigh, finally deciding to take the first step in order to communicate. He received grunt in reply and shook his head. "I'll be back at seven."

"Don't rush." Rory finally said. "I wouldn't want you to kill yourself just to get home to your family on time." Logan let out a long exhale and hung his head for a moment. He was so sick of this, the snide remarks and cynical comments. Although, maybe he deserved them. Truth be told he wasn't proud of the way he handled himself the other night. He lost his temper and for that he was sorry. However, he wasn't going to apologize for the way he felt.

"I'll be home by seven." he repeated, this time not receiving a reply from his wife. "I love you."

"Mmhmm." Logan's heart fell in his chest as he turned the doorknob. He opened the door and was about to disappear down the hall when he heard the faint voice of his wife one more time. "I love you too." He smiled slightly at that. Although her tone sounded forceful and hesitant the words still escaped from her mouth. Perhaps it was her tone that made it all the more special, the fact that, despite her pride and stubbornness, she refused to let him go like that. It was enough to get him through the day at least.

Logan walked downstairs into the kitchen where he found Jake and Ellie sitting at the table, eating in silence. He raised his eyebrows at the pair as Jake swirled his spoon through his Reese's Puffs, clanking it against the bowl, and Ellie stabbed her pancakes with a fork. Her head was lying on the table as she did so and her arm was draped across the surface. Jake's head was leaning against his fist in a bored stance and a frown crossed his normally jovial features.

"Good morning." he greeted his children as he past the table, kissing them each on the head.

"Hi..." Ellie responded tiredly, not even bothering to look in his direction. Confused by their off kilter behavior he threw a glance at Gracie, the maid that he had hired to take care of things while Rory was on bed rest. Gracie met his gaze and shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she too didn't know what was going on with the children.

"You done with your breakfast Cinder-Ellie? It's about time we got to school." Logan said, looking at his daughter's barely eaten pancakes.

"I'm done, Daddy." Jake said, glancing briefly at his father. Logan smiled and ruffled his hair.

"That's good, kiddo. But you don't have school today remember? It's Tuesday."

"Oh yea..." Jake said, turning his attention back to his soggy cereal.

"Are you gonna be okay with Mommy and Gracie? I can take you to work."

"I'm fine." Jake said.

"Ok."

"I need to get my shoes." Ellie said, hoping off her chair and finding her Mary-Janes.

"I'm gonna go watch TV." Jake said unenthusiastically. He scampered off into the living room and Logan turned to Gracie who had busied herself cleaning up the dishes from the table.

"You don't have to do that Gracie. They can clean up their own mess."

"It's not a problem Mr. Huntzberger. It's my job." the twenty-something replied. Logan nodded, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket and leaning against the island. He stared at the fruit for a while, tossing it up and down in the air a couple of times. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"What? Oh...no...every thing's fine." Logan lied. Gracie nodded and walked past him to the dishwasher, placing the cereal bowl and syrup covered plates inside. "Gracie..."

"Yes?"

"Have the kids been acting like this all morning?" Logan asked, knowing that Gracie would understand what he was referring to.

"Yea..." she answered. "I doubt it's anything to worry about though. I'm sure they're just tired, ready for summer vacation. You know...the usual."

"Right..." Logan said, finally taking a bite out of his apple. After swallowing he threw Gracie one more glance. "Are you sure you want Jake to stay here? I mean I know he can be a handful. I can-"

"Don't worry about it. I have two little brothers who I practically raised. I'm used to it." Logan smiled.

"If you're sure."

"He'll be fine." Gracie assured.

"Gracie..." Ellie called, hoping into the kitchen on one foot. "I can't get my shoe on." Logan laughed at his little girl as she bounced over to the kitchen table and sat on the floor. Rory had decided that she needed to start learning how to buckle real shoes. All the velcro Mary-Janes had been given to the Salvation Army. Ellie was having a harder time with it than she liked.

"Well you got one on this morning." Gracie said, kneeling down and buckling the little girl's shoe. She hoped off the chair and grabbed her book bag.

"I'm ready." she announced. Logan smiled at her and threw his apple core in the trash can.

"Alright then. Let's get a move on." he said, picking up his briefcase that was lying on the counter.

"Have a good day Mr. Huntzberger."

"You too, Gracie." Logan said before slipping in the garage and climbing into his car.

"Seat belt." He reminded his daughter who diligently obeyed. Once he saw that she was buckled in safely he backed out of the garage and made his way toward St. Boniface Elementary.

The drive to school had been mostly silent, however that didn't really surprise Logan. Ellie was never really that talkative. She talked to Rory and him more than anyone and yet even to them she didn't speak all that much. Over the years he had come to realize that although she didn't speak all that often, she was most defiantly not shy. She was simply introverted.

Over the years of living with his wife he had come to know the difference. Upon first meeting Rory he had mistaken her for a timid little mouse. However, he soon came to realize that in her silence, her mind was working overboard, watching the people around her and studying them to perfection. Her intelligence and powers of observation astounded him and if she passed that gift to their daughter than so be it.

Logan looked over at his little girl peeking out the window and smiled. He tugged at one of the French braided pigtails that Gracie had tied in her hair earlier that morning. As her head whipped around to glare at him, he smiled and patted the knee popping out of her navy blue plaid jumper, ignoring the tongue that escaped her lips as he did so.

"Are you feeling okay?" Logan asked for good measure, wanting to make sure that there wasn't really something bothering her. Ellie simply nodded and Logan offered her a tight lipped smile in response, not wanting to push the subject.

"Okay." He said. "But if something's wrong you can tell me. You can always tell me anything. I'm here whenever you need me." Logan raised his eyebrows as Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window again.

He pulled up to the school and stopped the car. Ellie gather her book bag and opened the car door, stepping outside.

"Have a good day, princess." Logan said. "I love you."

"Bye, Dad." Ellie said as she slammed the door closed and ran into the school, meeting up with e group of her friends at the doors. Logan stared through the window, his mouth agape, watching her, waiting for her to turn around one more time and wave him off.

She didn't look back.

* * *

Hearing the soft sound of a door click, Rory opened her eyes and looked to the right, without moving. There, she saw her son tip-toeing into the room carrying a box of crayons and a coloring book. Dodger, who had become extremely protective of Rory as of late lifted his head off the bed and twitched his head upon seeing Jake enter.

The little boy plopped on the floor next to the bed and began coloring, sticking his tongue out of his mouth in grave concentration.

"What do you think you're doing, little man?" Rory asked, causing Jake to jump in surprise. She and Logan had applied the rule that neither one of the children were aloud to walk inside their bedroom unannounced, mainly to keep any…awkward situations from happening.

"I was coloring you a pitchure, Mommy." Jake said, climbing unto his mother's bed, bringing his artwork with him. Rory shifted ever so slightly and opened her arms, gesturing him to come closer to her. Jake settled himself in his mother's arms and showed her what he had been working on.

"Oh wow." Rory said. "That's very pretty, sweetheart." Jake nodded a thank you and pointed to the person displayed in the picture.

"That's Lois Lane." Jake explained. Rory smiled, knowing very well who the cartoon was. "She's friends with Superman but she doesn't know he's Superman."

"I know, sweetheart."

"You do?" Jake asked, finding it very cool that his mom knew about Superman. Rory just chuckled at him.

"Yep. I do. I know all about Lois Lane. When I was little I wanted to be just like her." Jake laughed.

"You're not like Lois Lane. You're my Mommy." he pointed out. "Aunt Bobby is like Lois Lane though. She's a reporter and she wears those suits all the time." Rory was left speechless at her child's seemingly harmless words.

For the longest time she believed that she had, in fact, lived up to all of her dreams and aspirations. After all, she had graduated Yale. She had…well…applied for several positions on prestigious newspapers.

She couldn't understand why Jake's words cut so deep. They were true. They were completely and totally true and anyone who had eyes could see that she was nothing like Lois Lane. She just imagined she was. She lived in a special world inside her head where everyone saw her as a successful intelligent career woman.

She refused to face the reality that she was the opposite. She was housewife. Her job was to clean and cook for her husband, to raise her children, and be perfectly content. She was what she had tried so hard not to become, yet, she was supposed to be content. She had completely forgotten everything that she had ever wanted, and she was supposed to be perfectly content.

"Mommy?" Jake asked, looking up at his mother's glazed over eyes and breaking her train of thought. Rory looked down and forced a smile.

"Yea, baby?" she asked, her voice cracking ever so slightly as the words escaped her lips. She watched as Jake's brow contorted in confusion.

"Why did you want to be like Lois Lane?" he asked as he snuggled deeper into his side.

"Well…I don't know, honey. I just did. I love to write and learn about things. I love to tell people about things that going on in the world." Rory explained.

"Oh…" Jake said. "But if you were like Lois Lane wouldn't you work all the time like Daddy?"

"Well…yes." Rory answered. "I guess I would. Why do you ask?" Jake looked down at the picture he was holding in his hand and thought for a while before looking back up at his mother.

"If you worked all the time then I would never see you." Jake said. "I don't see Daddy that much. I would be sad if I didn't see you either. Who would take care of me?" Rory's breath caught in her throat as she tried to think of an answer to his question.

"Well…I guess Gracie would be here a lot more and she would take care of you." Rory watched as Jake's face turned into a pout. "What's wrong sweetheart? Don't you like Gracie?"

"Yea, I like her." Jake said. "But I don't want her to take care of me all the time. I want you to take care of me."

Tears started to flow out of Jake's eyes and Rory felt a knife glide through her heart. She wrapped her arms around her little boy and whispered soothing words into his ear as she rocked him back and forth. His crying didn't stop and she continued to hold him close. As she held him, her eyes focused on a spot on the wall in front of her and her mind drifted away.

Perhaps she wasn't what she always dreamed she would be as a child. That didn't mean she wasn't happy. Growing up she never saw herself getting married and having children. That stage in her life just sort of happened out of the blue, yet, she wasn't resentful for it. She really was happy with what she was. She was a mother. She was a support system. She had been given a gift far greater than a Pulitzer and it was about time she realized just what she had.

Jake finally started to calm down and Rory told him to go pick out a movie. He hoped off the bed and put Disney's Robin Hood in the DVD player. He climbed back on the bed and settled himself once again in his mother's embrace. Rory wiped the tear tracks off his cheeks and kissed the top of his blonde head just as the movie started playing.

She smiled as she felt a kick in her stomach and brought a hand to her belly. Jake saw what she was doing and grew excited, his hand flying to feel his little brother moving inside her once again. As Cody delivered another swift kick Jake's face lit up and Rory couldn't contain the smile that graced her face.

Who knows what the years to come would bring her? She could be sitting in an office or holding a big CNN microphone in her hand before she knew it. But as for right now, at this very moment in time, she was perfectly content with lying in a bed watching cartoons with her little boys.

* * *

"You look a little down in the dumps." A familiar British voice called from his office door. Logan looked up to see Bobby and offered her a weak smile as he gestured for her to come in. She closed the door behind herself and walked around Logan's desk to face him.

Setting a pile papers on his desk, she watched him as he leaned back in his chair and remained silent. She pushed herself up and sat on his desk, her feet dangling off the edge and coming in contact with Logan's shins. He pushed himself back to give them both some space.

"You look like you need some extensive psychoanalysis." Bobby said.

"Well unless you have a miniature Sigmund Freud stashed in your pocket I don't think you'll be much help to me." Logan said. Bobby brushed his comment off with a wave of her hand.

"Nonsense." She said. "I majored in psychology when I first started college you know."

"Really?" Logan asked, surprised at her admission.

"Yes. However, about the time the professor started talking about Penis Envy I decided to call it quits. I realized that these people were just plain insane and had no place trying to help others when their problems were obviously so much worse." Logan laughed. "So what's wrong?"

"Nothing…it's stupid." Logan said.

"Try me." Logan sighed and looked at Bobby who gave him a reassuring smile.

"Ellie called me Dad today." Logan said. Bobby twitched an eyebrow, confused at the statement.

"Well…forgive me if I'm wrong but you are her father are you not?" Logan laughed and shook his head.

"No…well…yes I am her father but…she's never called me Dad before. It was always-"

"Daddy?" Bobby interrupted.

"Yea…" Logan said with a nod. "I just...she's growing up way too fast you know. I feel like my whole life is falling apart. I feel like I'm losing everyone who matters to me. I'm losing Jake because I'm always working. I'm losing Ellie because she's getting older and….I don't know I can't shake this feeling that I'm losing Rory too."

"Rory?" Bobby asked.

"We got into this huge fight the other night and….Things just haven't been the same lately. Normally I would say it was just hormones and normal pregnancy crap but…I don't think that's it."

"Maybe it's not." Bobby said. Logan's head snapped up to look at her, shocked that she would say something like that. "Maybe…you and Rory are growing apart. But that doesn't mean that you're losing everyone. You still have people who care about you Logan." Bobby leaned forward and pressed a comforting hand on his knee.

"You still have your kids despite what you may think. You're their father. They love you. They always will. You have you sister. You have your friends and…"

Bobby paused for a moment and made eye contact with Logan. His face held a look of utter shock and confusion as he felt the hand that was resting on his knee travel upward and noticed the way she leaned forward off his desk, bringing her cleavage into plain sight so that he could see down her shirt to the valley between her breasts and the red lacy bra that kept them in place.

"…and you have me."

* * *

As the credits on the movie began to roll, Rory looked down and smiled at Jake. His eyelids were bobbing up and down, too heavy for the child to hold open for a long period of time. His mouth popped open and Rory rolled her eyes. In a few years he would be snoring up a storm. Perhaps it was genetic. She couldn't count the number of times she wanted to tape Logan's mouth closed to keep the offending snorts away.

She shifted Jake slowly, trying not to wake him up, and placed him over on Logan's side of the bed so he could take a little nap without worrying about accidentally waking him up. Jake's head hit the pillow and he snuggled into a fetal position, his thumb unconsciously finding it's way into his mouth.

Rory groaned and tried to pry the finger out of his mouth as gently as she could. He had stopped sucking his thumb a long time ago. Yet, every once and a while he was sleeping he would sneak the tiny appendage in there. It hadn't happened in a while, as far as she knew. Yet, now here he was doing it again. Rory made a mental note to buy some of that nasty finger coating stuff to keep it from happening again.

Growing tired of the music playing on the movie, Rory reached across her son to the end table where the remote control was lying. She picked it up and clicked the TV off before settling herself into her pillows and deciding to take a nap herself. She had just about reached the land of dreams when she suddenly started to feel very wet. She jolted awake, bringing Jake out of his slumber with her.

"What's wrong, Mommy? Did you have a bad dream?" Rory didn't answer his question. Her mind was too busy working in overdrive. "Mommy?" Jake sounded again. "Why is the bed all wet?"

"Jake, sweetie, will you go get Gracie for me?" Jake bounced out of the room and came back seconds later, pulling a smiling twenty-something in his wake.

"Can I help you with something Mrs. Huntzberger?"

"Yea…" Rory said sitting up and throwing the blankets off of her. "You can drive me to the hospital. My water just broke."

* * *

**Wow...I know that was really mean, a double clifhanger. Haha. Just think about how good the next chapter will be. That might keep you from hating me. Lol. Don't forget to review! **


	11. You Make Me Happy

How's this for a speedy update? I promised you guys I wouldn't take as long with this one. I left you all hanging last time didn't I? I think I got the most reviews ever on the last chapter so thank you all so so much! However, most of them were slightly threatening and full of hate at a certain blonde haired British woman, but hey I take what I can get. Lol. I know you all hate Bobby but I'm curious to see your reaction to her in the next couple chapters. Anyhoo, thanks again and here's the update! 

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Gilmore Girls.

**Chapter Eleven**

**You Make Me Happy**

All comprehensive thought flew out of Logan's mind as Bobby's face slowly grew closer to his. Before he knew it he could feel her soft glossy lips on his. It wasn't a bad kiss. That was one thing he knew. In fact, it was somewhat pleasant-soft-tender-not something to normally complain about. Bobby however might have some complaint seeing as his lips were frozen as if paralyzed, not responding in the least to the emotional show of affection.

She pulled away from him and met his eyes, which he hadn't closed for a second, not even in a blink, since her lips touched his. She was met with a look of pure astonishment and she smiled.

"I knew you felt the same…" she whispered. Logan opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out. It was as if his vocal chords had gone in to a complete state of catatonic shock, unable to function properly. Bobby simply giggled and brought her lips to his again. Taking advantage of his open mouth once her lips descended, she brushed her tongue along the inside of his mouth.

Logan seemed to have found his voice again, making the first sound since the first time she had kissed him. A strangled groan sounded from the back of his throat, which, to most in Bobby's position, would sound like a grunt of appreciation. However, to Logan, it was a grunt of protest. Yet, for some reason he couldn't find the strength to push her off of him.

As much as his mind was screaming at him to put a stop to this, he couldn't keep his body from reacting. He was a grown man, a grown man that hadn't felt the touch of a woman in weeks. Rory had been less than willing to put even the smallest amount of energy into any sexual exploits. The early labor had taken so much out of her she simply didn't have the stamina. When she was pregnant with Ellie and Jake she had been willing to…appease him even though she wasn't able to be appeased herself during the third trimester. Lately, Rory had been so turned off that, frankly, Logan could give a better hand job to himself. Which is what he had resorted to in the past few weeks.

Now, here he was with a beautiful woman sitting in front of him, more than willing to give him anything he wanted and as much as he consciously didn't want anything from her, unconsciously, his body begging for more. He felt himself responding quickly as her hand slid even further and further along his thigh, coming dangerously close to the growing bulge in his pants. Yet, when it reached it's targeted area, Logan's conscious finally won the grueling battle.

He flung his chair backward, breaking away from her and stood up, brushing a hand through his hair and turning to look out the window behind him. He needed a moment to collect himself before facing her. Bobby walked over to him, running her hands up and down his biceps. Logan twitched away from her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, softly.

"What's wrong?" he repeated incredulously. Bobby smiled innocently at him and brought a hand up to cup his cheek.

"You seem upset." She said, looking into his eyes. Logan started to laugh in disbelief, letting out short and sharp breaths.

"I…I seem up-I seem upset?" he stuttered, finding it hard to string a cognitive thought together to form a sentence on his own. "You know-You know what? I think…I think you need to just….just stand over there. Just stand over there for a second just-just far away from me. I…I need…I need to think for a second and you need to just stand over there and let me think."

"Alright…" Bobby said, walking about ten feet away from him. She watched as Logan paced the room and shook his head, occasionally throwing her a glance every once and a while. "Penny for your thoughts?" Logan stopped and stared at her for a second.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Logan asked. Bobby looked taken aback. "How can you just stand there and act like nothing just happened there."

"I'm not." Bobby said. "I know what just happened there Logan. We finally let go of this stupid charade."

"What charade?" Logan asked, brushing another hand through his hair and pacing in yet another circle around his office.

"Please Logan. We've been dancing around each other for years. Don't tell me that you haven't felt this too. I've been living through this never-ending torture day after day, knowing that you were with her, and I've stepped aside. I've stepped aside because you thought you loved Rory. So I supported you because I care about you Logan. I want you to be happy. But you're not happy. Can't you see that? Can't you see she doesn't make you happy? She makes you miserable. She's made you miserable for so long now. She doesn't get you! She doesn't understand you and all that you have to do everyday and all the pressure that you submit yourself to. She blames you for everything! She always has blamed you and after everything you do for her it's never enough!"

Logan started shaking his head, not able to find the words to defend his wife. It was true. She didn't understand. She had no idea what he went through day after day. It's what they just fought about. Yet, did that mean he wasn't happy? Did that mean he didn't love her? He couldn't even comprehend what would mean not to love Rory. She was his world. She may not understand his job but she understood everything else that mattered. She knew him like no one else did.

"I understand Logan. I understand you. I see how much you do for your family everyday. I see how hard you work to provide for them. I would never dream of holding that against you. I know how much you love your kids and I think for your wonderful for it. I can make you happy, Logan. I can. I can give you what you deserve. You're so wonderful and she doesn't see that but I do. I do, Logan. I see it. Let me make you happy."

"I'm married, Bobby." Logan yelled. "I have a wife. I have a family. You can't honestly expect me to turn my back on them."

"No! Never, I know how much you love your family Logan but I can give you something more. I can give you someone to come to when things get rough. I can give you someone to love who will love you back with everything she has."

"You want me to an affair with you?" Logan asked. "Do you really think that little of me? What kind of man does that to his wife?"

"A lot of men do that to their wives. You know that. They know that. Your father does it. Your parents don't love each other either so they find people who do love them. You can do it too Logan."

Logan's face went lax with that statement. He was suddenly lost in a world that he had blocked out a long time ago, a world where he would watch his mother drink away the pain every night his father never came home, a world where he would run into an unfamiliar woman sneaking down the stairs of his home early in the morning, a world where he would huddle himself in his sisters arms as he heard the screams of his parents echo the halls of their home, a world where he would watch TV and wish more than anything that he had the life that so many of his favorite characters did.

"I can do it too?" he asked softly, choking on the words as they came out of his mouth. "I can be just like my Dad, huh?" Logan turned around for a second, wiping his face quickly with his hands in order to compose himself. "You just gave this whole speech about how well you understand me but you don't know me at all."

"Logan…"

"No! I am nothing like him! Rory and I are nothing like them! Don't you ever try and make me think otherwise. Cause let me tell you something if our relastionship was even slightly close to theirs I can tell you that I would have divorce papers filled out in an instant. I would never do that to her. I would never do that to my kids. You don't know what's it's like to grow up in a family like that. You don't know anything."

"I just thought…" Bobby interrupted, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

"You thought. You don't know! You thought that since Rory and I hit a rough patch you were free to just swoop on in and steal me away? Sure we're having some problems right now but we'll get through it. We've gotten through worse. I love her! She's carrying my child! I love her more than you can possibly comprehend and that's never going to change that's-"

Logan was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone ringing, telling him that he had just received a text message. He reached into his pocket and extracted his phone, his eyes going wide as he read the message from Gracie telling him that Rory had just gone into labor and they were on their way to the hospital. All thoughts of Bobby and what had just happened left his mind as he ran out of the office and headed to the hospital to greet his son into the world.

As he flew out the door, he left behind a crying and shamefaced Bobby who made her way to his desk. Sitting in his chair, she held her head in her hands for a moment, calming herself before picking up the phone and hitting number three on the speed-dial.

"Hello, is Mitchum Huntzberger available?...No it's fine. Can you please tell him that Bobby Hawthorne would like to have a word with him when he's available?... Yes, thank you. Have a nice day."

* * *

"Oh my God!" Rory yelled suddenly between ragged pants. Startled, Gracie tried her hardest not to swerve the car into the other lane. She gave her employer a questioning glance, knowing that this particular expletive wasn't used to express her pain. "Logan! I need to call Logan!"

"I sent him a text message while you were getting dressed." Gracie said. Rory visibly relaxed, throwing her head back against the headrest of the passenger seat and letting out a deep sigh. "I also sent one to your mother, Honor, and Mr. Huntzberger…. Mitchum that is."

"Oh, Thank you. You are amazing." She took a few deep breaths and tried to relax, however in a few seconds she was screaming more expletives, these, however, were due to nothing other than sheer mind numbing pain.

"Mommy?" Jake's timid voice called from the car seat in the back. Once her contraction ebbed, Rory turned to him and ran a loving finger down his terrified face.

"I'm fine sweetheart. Mommy is going to be just fine. I promise. I'm so sorry you had to see this." Rory reached over to the empty passenger seat next to him and grabbed her purse. Shuffling through its contents, she pulled out her iPod and handed it to her son.

"Here, baby, you listen to this okay?" Rory said, hoping that the music would drown out any further cries that would surely come from her mouth. She felt absolutely horrible scaring him that way, yet, some things you simply could not keep in. The pain of labor was one of them.

Three minutes later another contraction followed, making Rory slightly nervous. They still had a ways to go before arriving at the hospital. She knew that labor usually sped up after multiple children but this was ridiculous.

Clutching her stomach and trying as hard as she could to keep her cries down, she cast a glance behind her, finding Jake sufficiently distracted. She silently thanked God and bit down on her lip.

"Oh God!" She cried. "I'm never having sex again!" Gracie cast another questioning glace at her as her contraction passed once again.

"Really?" she asked, incredulously.

"Of course not. Who am I kidding? You've seen my husband." Gracie nodded and looked away, suddenly becoming a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, Gracie, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have to do this." Rory said, placing a hand on the young girls forearm. "I'm probably scaring you to death. You're never going to have children and it's all my fault. It's really not that bad. Well it is but…it's worth it. You know?"

"I'm sure it is." Gracie said, looking quickly into the rear-view mirror and smiling as Jake bobbed his head along with his mother's iPod.

* * *

Logan ran into the maternity ward straight to the front desk. He took a moment to catch his breath before greeting the nurse with a tired smile.

"Hi I'm looking for Rory Huntzberger." he said, the words escaping his mouth in a series of pants. The nurse looked down at a sheet of paper in front of her and shook her head.

"I'm sorry sir, but there is no one here by that name."

"Uh…ok…Lorelai then." Logan said, wondering why they wouldn't have her listed. She had to be here.

"No I'm sorry." The nurse repeated again. Logan's mind went wild with scenarios, trying to think of any possible reason why his wife wouldn't be at the hospital. His heart starting pounding with worry and he took out his phone, about to call Gracie's cell when he heard his name being called. He turned around to the entrance to the waiting room and saw Rory being wheeled in by some nurses, followed closely by Gracie who was holding Jake in her arms.

"Ace!" he exclaimed, running over to her. "The nurse said you weren't here. I was freaking out."

"I just got here. You beat me." She said with an out of breath laugh as she winced and placed her hands on her belly.

"I beat you?" Logan asked.

"Well you are closer."

"Right yea... That- that makes since." Logan said as he walked quickly, trying desperately to keep up the pace with the nurse who was pushing Rory.

"Logan…" Rory said, looking up at him with an intrigued expression. "You have lipstick on you face…" Logan's eyes went wide with terror as she reached her thumb to his lips and wiped the faint red smudge away.

"Rory…no…you know I would never….I…I can explain. It's not….It's not like that. I swear. You gotta believe me. I…"

"Hey, I know…" Rory said, reaching across the arms rest and grabbing his hand. "I trust you, Logan. Just tell me who I have to kill." Logan laughed and bent down to kiss her sweaty forehead.

"Another story for another time." He said. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Rory said as her eyes started to fill with tears. The couple turned the corner and made their way into Rory's private room. Once the wheel chair stopped Rory looked around and worry started to appear on her face.

"Where's Jake?" she asked, looking around for her baby.

"They probably got stopped in the waiting room, Ace." Logan said. Rory's eyes went wide.

"Oh Logan! Go get him. He was so scared." Rory said. "Every time I had a contraction he looked like he was going to scream. Don't leave him there." Logan looked to the door and back at Rory who was giving him the biggest bambi eyes she could muster. He nodded and squeezed her shoulder.

"I'll be right back."

Logan turned and walked back down the hall to the waiting room where he found Gracie sitting on a chair holding a sobbing Jake in her arms. Logan's heart broke as he heard his son cry for his mother. He walked over to them and Gracie held the boy out to him. Logan held him tight as he buried his red face in his shoulder and gripped his neck as tight as possible.

"Where's Mommy?" Jake cried, his voice muffled by his sobs and the material of Logan's sport coat.

"Mommy's lying down, buddy." Logan said, bouncing him gently in an order to calm him.

"What's wrong with her?" Jake asked.

"She's getting ready to have the baby." Logan said.

"She was scr-screaming really l-loud in the car." Logan's heart broke for the little boy, knowing that what he went through getting here was probably really traumatic. For a child who knew nothing of the process of life, seeing his mother going through the pain of labor must have been terrifying. They got lucky with Ellie, who was sound asleep when Rory went into labor with Jake. They were able to leave her at home with Lorelai who was staying the weekend, knowing her grandson was going to pop out at any second.

"I know, bud." Logan said soothingly. "When a mommy has a baby it hurts really bad. But Mommy is going to be fine. The doctors are going to give her medicine that will make her pain go away. Remember when they gave you that shot so your arm would stop hurting a while ago?" Jake nodded against Logan's neck. "Well they're going to give her something like that so it won't hurt anymore and before you know it your little brother will be here."

"Why does is hurt so much?" Jake asked innocently.

"Well I don't know, kiddo. I've never had to go through that." Logan said with a small laugh. "But a very big baby has to come out of a very small place."

"Like the time I got my head stuck in the stair railing?" Logan laughed out loud and was suddenly overcome with joy at the thought of having another little boy. There was nothing in the world that could compare to those questions.

"A little bit like that but not quite." Logan said. Jake started to calm down. "Are you okay?" With a sniff, Jake nodded again and Logan gave him back to Gracie who was standing next to them with a smile.

"Alright, kiddo, how about you go with Gracie to pick up your sister from school and then head on home. I'll call you the second your little brother gets here, okay."

"Okay"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."

"Good." Logan ruffled his son's hair and turned to Gracie, saying a quick thank you. Gracie smiled and made her way out of the hospital with Jake resting on her hip. Logan gave his little boy one last wave before turning down the hallway and going back to his wife's side.

"You ready for number three, Ace?" Logan asked, taking her hand in his. Rory opened her mouth as she was suddenly hit with another powerful contraction. Instantly, Logan felt his eyes becoming misty with pain as the bones in his hand began to crunch.

"More than ready!"

* * *

"He's so small…" Rory said as her little boy was handed to her, wrapped in a fluffy blue blanket. She gladly took him into her arms, sniffing from the tears that had built up in her eyes, yet, at the same time emitting a laugh of pure joy at the sight of her baby.

"Look at him, Logan." She said, glancing up at her husband who was standing over the bed, a blissful smile covering his face. "He's so tiny."

"Yea…" he whispered. "Seven pounds, two ounces." Rory covered her mouth with her hand. That almost two pounds less than Jake and Ellie. "Hey….Logan said, running his fingers through her hair comfortingly. "He's okay, Ace. Look at him. He's perfect."

"I know it's just…What if he had been born a month ago, Logan? What if…"

"Hey…" he said, cutting her off. "He wasn't, Ace, okay? It doesn't matter because it didn't happen. He's a little early but he's fine. He's healthy. He's got ten fingers and ten toes…"

"You counted?" Rory asked, looking up at him with a smile.

"Every time." Logan said. "Jake came out with fists clenched though so I was a little worried for a second but it was all good." Rory laughed and looked down at Cody who had finally opened his eyes.

"Hi there little man." She said. "I'm your Mommy. You are sooo handsome. You're gonna have all the ladies all over you when you're older. Just like your Daddy." A comfortable silence fell over the family as Cody's eyes drifted closed. Logan took him out of Rory's arms and set him in the bassinet next to the bed.

"Look Ace, we need to talk…" Logan said as he turned back around to face his wife. As he did, however, his eyes feel upon Rory, her eyes closed and her head tilted to the side against her pillow. With a small smile, he placed a kiss on her forehead and brushed the stray hairs out of her face. "Tomorrow then… I love you, Rory Gilmore."

**TBC...**


	12. My Best Friend's Marriage

Wow. I am just spoiling you guys. Seriously, two amazingly fast updates in a row. Consider this an apology for my huge lapse before. Haha. Now, in what I originally planned for this story, this was going to be the last chapter. However, I'm planning on writing a third installment and I still have to set up a lot of things. So you guys are lucky. You get a lot more chapters than originally intended. However, that being said, there's not going to be anymore big central conflict. The conflicts will come mostly chapters at a time. You can consider that a good or a bad thing I guess. Thanks so much for all the reviews as usual. You guys are so good to me. 

One more thing, I know Lorelai is not in this chapter which is completely strange but I promise she'll have a huge appearance in the next one.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gilmore Girls. Please don't sue me.

**Chapter Twelve**

**My Best Friend's…Marriage**

"Can I hold him?" Jake asked, looking up at his mother with gleaming eyes from next to the hospital bed. Rory cringed. She knew she shouldn't have let Ellie hold the baby while Jake was in the room. He hadn't stopped bugging her about since. Rory was a bit nervous when she handed the newborn child over to his older sister. She had made Ellie sit in the chair in the corner of her hospital room and rest Cody in her lap so that there was no chance she would drop him. However, letting Jake do the same still didn't set well in the young mother's stomach.

"Not right now sweetheart." Rory said as she watched Jake's face fall from disappointment.

"Ellie got to hold him." The little boy whined. Rory sighed and shifted a fussy Cody in her arms.

"Well sweetie, Ellie is bigger than you are. Maybe when he's bigger you can hold him. Alright?"

"That's not fair!" Jake cried, causing the baby to break out in tears in Rory's arms.

"Jake, I'm sorry but the answer is no." Rory said while she bounced Cody slightly in her arms, hoping to calm him down. "What's wrong little guy? Are you hungry?"

Rory bounced him in her arms a little more but he continued to wail and kick his tiny little feet in protest of something he couldn't quite articulate. She hoped that hunger was in fact what was causing him such great uncomfort. Having only known the child for less than a day, she had yet to learn to distinguish one cry from another. She carefully maneuvered him so that she could open her shirt and brought him to her breast, which he enthusiastically accepted.

"What are you doing?" Jake asked. Rory looked down at him and saw his face contorted in a look of extreme confusion.

"I'm giving Cody his breakfast." Rory explained, unfortunately doing nothing to appease Jake's confusion. "This is how babies get their milk."

"I thought they got milk from bottles." Jake said.

"Sometimes." Rory said. "And sometimes they get it from mommies." A while later Cody let go of his mother's breast and Rory closed her shirt. Keeping a steady hand on the back of his head, she lifted him over his shoulder and gently started to pat his back.

"Now what are you doing?" Jake asked, his earlier confusion earlier turning into plain curiosity.

"Well…. right now I'm…" A loud belch from Cody interrupted Rory. Jake broke out into a fit of giggles and Rory just smiled and shook her head. Suddenly she heard the excited laughter of her daughter from the hallway and wondered what it was that put her in such a state. A couple seconds later Ellie appeared in the room in the arms of a tall man.

"Mommy look!" Ellie shouted. "Grandpa's here!"

"Hi Dad!" Rory said with a huge smile. Christopher set his granddaughter on the floor and walked over to the bed to give Rory a kiss on the cheek. He placed hand on Cody's downy brown hair and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Chris repeated with a smile. "Like I would miss seeing my little grandson for the first time." Chris let out a grunt as Jake slammed into his leg. He offered the toddler a cheerful hello ruffled his blond hair, making Jake let go of him and reach up to fix his doo with a scowl. Rory laughed. He really was turning more into Logan each day.

"Do you want to hold him?" Rory asked.

"Now what kind of question is that?" Chris asked. Rory smiled and handed the baby over to her father. Chris took him beamed down the little boy with a blissful smile. He ran a finger over his cheek and Cody reached up and grabbed his finger in a tight grip. "He's beautiful Rory."

"Thanks."

"What's his name?"

"Cody Richard Huntzberger." She said.

"Cody Richard Huntzberger." Chris repeated as he started pacing around the room, bouncing the baby lightly in his arms. "Is that your name?" he asked the baby who looked up at him with a dazed expression. Chris smiled. "He's got your eyes, Ror."

"No…" Rory said, shaking her head. "If you look close enough you can already see them turning brown." Christopher looked once again at his grandson, studying his eyes as closely as possible. Surely enough, he could see the honey color of his son-in-law's eyes starting to stretch out from his pupils.

"Oh…you sure can." He said, glancing one more time at the angelic form of his oldest daughter sitting up on the bed. He turned his attention back to Cody. "So you've got your Daddy's eyes don't you? Hey where is Logan?" Chris asked, not having seen him on his way in the room.

"Logan went to go get some pictures developed and see his father. He's gonna ask for the next couple days off."

"Where's your Mom?" Chris asked, also shocked not to see his ex-wife in here with Rory.

"She and Luke went out to get a suitable cup of coffee for my first taste in nine months. The hospital stuff just simply wouldn't do." Chris laughed. '

"That sounds like your mother. So they left you here all alone?"

"I'm not alone." Rory said. "I have this big strong man to protect me." She reached out and kissed Jake's head from his position on the floor next to the bed.

"Yea! I'm protecting her Grandpa." He said.

"Well thanks, buddy." Chris said. "It makes me feel a whole lot better knowing that my little girl has someone here to look after her."

* * *

Logan smiled as his father's secretary handed him the pictures of Cody he just printed. The young woman beamed at the sight of the newborn child and offered her congratulations before sending him into Mitchum's office.

As usual, his father was immersed in paper work, not even noticing when Logan stepped in. He cleared his throat and Mitchum looked up from his desk, smiling and gesturing to the chair in front of him when he saw his son.

"Logan!" he greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Well…I thought you might want to see some pictures of your grandson." Mitchum smiled.

"Hand them over." Logan did just that and Mitchum took them gratefully. He shuffled through the prints, skimming through the pictures of the small brown haired blue-eyed infant in the arms of his mother, father, and grandmother. He smiled brightly and let out a chuckle when he came across a picture of Ellie holding him on her lap in a chair.

"He's beautiful Logan." Logan nodded. "What'd you name him?"

"Cody." Logan said. "Cody Richard." Mitchum smiled.

"I'm sure Richard will be touched."

"Well Rory wanted more than anything to do it. She feels like maybe this way she can finally show him how grateful she is."

"I have a feeling he knows." Mitchum said, smiling when he came across a picture of Cody in the arms of his daughter with Cameron and Lizzie watching them in amazement. "Has your mother stopped by?"

"No, she hasn't made it up here yet." Logan said. Mitchum nodded. "I told her we'd bring the whole family over for dinner some time soon."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that." Mitchum said. "I'll have her call and invite Richard and Emily as well. That way you won't have to make it down there twice. Trust me I know how annoying the commute is."

"Why do you do it?" Logan asked, wondering why on earth his father put himself through it so often. Mitchum shrugged.

"Your mother doesn't want to move I don't want to get a divorce after all these years." Logan nodded, knowing how his mother was when she felt strongly about something.

"Listen, Dad, I also came here to ask if I could have the next week off. I don't want Rory to go home and have to get everything settled by herself."

"Sure thing." Mitchum said. "Just call me when you're ready to come back."

"Thanks. I should probably go." Logan said, standing up and taking the pictures his father was holding out to him.

"Alright. I'll see you soon." Mitchum said. Logan walked over to the door and put his hand on the knob. "Logan." He turned around and met his father's gaze. "Congratulations. I'm really proud of you." Logan's lips turned up slightly.

"Thanks, Dad." With that he walked out of the office, putting the pictures in his pocket. When he glanced up his breath caught as he took sight of Bobby walking toward him. She too looked surprised to see him and sifted awkwardly on her feet, avoiding his gaze.

"What are you doing here?" Logan asked, softly yet with a touch of coldness that she had never before heard in his voice. This alone caused her eyes to well up in tears and she took a deep breath before finally looking him in the eye.

"I came to talk to your father."

"Why?" Bobby bit her lip and glanced to the ceiling quickly as if trying to force her thoughts together.

"I'm gonna ask him to transfer me back to London." She admitted, still avoiding his eyes at all costs.

"What?" Logan asked, with such an element of surprise it surprised Bobby. "Bobby….you don't….look you don't have to do that…we can…"

"No." Bobby said, shaking her head adamantly and finally looking Logan into the eyes. Taking him in finally caused the tears to start slowing down her cheeks. "We can't do anything Logan. You may be able to forget what happened and ignore me but I can't…I've been trying to ignore you for ten years."

"Look…Bobby, you're an amazing reporter, alright. I don't want this…whatever this was to get in the way of your success. I'm willing to put it behind me."

"You may be willing to put it behind you, Logan. But it's not that easy for me."

"Why not?" Logan asked. "We can just distance ourselves for a while and eventually we can work past it...We'll be fine…"

"I love you, Logan." Logan's calmness came to an abrupt stop as he looked at Bobby and saw the complete sincerity written all over her eyes as tears continued to fall down her cheeks. "I've loved you for ten years. I've tried to ignore it. I've tried to get past it but I can't. I love you and nothing's going to change that. If I stay here…. If I stay here I have no chance of ever getting over that."

Logan sighed and took as seat in a chair next to his father's office door. He looked around, grateful that they hadn't drawn the attention of anyone else in the office.

"Yesterday I thought that I finally had a chance to get you to love me back so I took it. I was willing to…to be the other woman because I thought that I would be happy having you anyway I could. But you know what…when you kept talking about how even though Rory and you aren't getting along that well right now you would never stop loving her I realized I deserve that too."

Logan looked up and offered her a sympathetic look as she hastily brought her hands to her face to wipe away the waterfall of tears that wouldn't stop cascading down her face.

"I deserve someone who'll love me like that. You know?"

"Of course you do, Bob."

"But I can never get that if I stay here with you. Because just when I finally convince myself that I'm over you, I see you smile and I realize that I have no chance of ever getting over you. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to you. I did a horrible thing to the one person who I claim to love and I can't risk the chance that I might do it again. We both deserve to be happy and be loved. You have that and now….now I have to go get it for myself. I'm so sorry, Logan. I'm so sorry. I…I'm so ashamed."

"It's okay." Logan said. "You know I love you, Bobby. I just… I don't love you like that." Bobby nodded. "Thank you though…for loving me that way. It's…. it's actually kind of flattering." Bobby laughed and shook her head.

"Except is makes me fungus." Logan laughed and stood up, walking over to her and kissing her briefly on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Bobby." He said. "I really am going to miss you."

"You have no idea." Bobby said, choking on her tears. With that Logan walked out of his father's office, not taking one more glance in the direction of the somewhat hysterical woman he left. He reached in his pocket, took out his cell phone, and pressed number one on the speed dial, smiling when he heard the familiar voice greet him over the line.

"Hey, Ace." He said. "How are things going over there?"

* * *

Logan traced the back of his index finger along the side of Cody's soft cheek. He looked down at the sleeping infant resting peacefully in his bassinet and smiled. Cody squirmed a little in his sleep and Logan took his finger away before the child woke up. He turned around and watched his wife as she unpacked her hospital bag.

"Have I mentioned how perfect he is?" Logan asked, making Rory break out in s grin.

"Once or twice." She said, walking to the closet and placing the overnight bag back on the shelf. Logan tiptoed over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She relaxed into his embrace as he began to leave a trail of kisses down her neck.

"Well he is." Logan said. "He gets is from his mother." Rory giggled and threw her head back so it was resting on his shoulder and she could look up at his face.

"If you're trying to get laid, I think I need to remind you that I have strict orders from my doctor not to give you anything for six weeks."

"I'm not trying anything." Logan said. Rory broke out of his arms and rolled her eyes, brushing past him and walking into the bathroom where she took out her toothbrush and started brushing her teeth.

"Let me tell you, you have no idea how good it feels to walk again!" She said, her words slightly muffled by the toothbrush in her mouth. Logan laughed as he walked into the closet and started to change out of his clothes.

"I think I have a slight idea." He said, making sure to raise his voice so she could hear him. Rory spit out her toothpaste and ran the faucet again to fill a glass to rinse her mouth.

"I don't think you do." She said, pausing to rinse out her mouth. "I mean…there have been several times in my life where I've wished I could just stay in bed forever but after that I never want to do it again. I've never appreciated legs as much as I do now."

"I've been confined to bed myself, Ace. Trust me I know how you feel." Logan and Rory walked out of the bathroom and the closet, meeting each other halfway. Logan pressed a kiss on her forehead and brushed past her to get into the bathroom while she made her way to the closet.

"Yea…I… I kinda forgot about that." Rory said, becoming solemn for a moment before slipping her pajamas over her head.

"But hey, look at it this way, at the end of all that you get a cute little baby. All I got was the satisfaction of walking around an office in London all by myself."

"Poor baby." Rory said, walking out of the closet and settling herself in the bed. Logan followed shortly after, slipping under the covers and biting his lip awkwardly.

"So…" he said. Rory nodded and looked over at him.

"So…" she repeated. "Who kissed you?" she asked, looking down at the comforter and wringing her hands awkwardly. Logan sighed, not expecting to jump right into this conversation. He should have known better. After all, he had been married to her for almost ten years now.

"Bobby." Logan said simply. Rory let out an amused chuckle, that Logan knew only meant bad news. He watched as she shook her head, casting her eyes upward.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" she asked. Logan just sighed.

"Ace…"

"No, Logan, don't even start." She said. "Ten years. Ten years I've told you and told you that she wasn't as harmless as you liked to tell yourself she was."

"Rory…" Logan tried to interrupt again.

"Don't Logan. Don't try and defend her. She kissed you! She kissed you and God knows what else she tried to do. I hate her. I hate her so much. You're my husband! Where the hell does she get off?"

"I'm not trying to defend her, Ace." Logan said. "I'm just trying to defend myself. You know that if I had any inkling at all about her feelings I would have distanced myself in a heartbeat."

"Her feelings?" Rory asked in disbelief. "What feelings?" Logan groaned and rubbed his temples in a counterclockwise motion.

"Apparently you're not the only one who likes the thought of being Mrs. Logan Huntzberger."

"Well duh. You're hot and rich. Who wouldn't want to be your wife?" Logan smirked at her.

"That's not what I meant." Rory nodded for a moment and twitched her eyebrows.

"She loves you doesn't she?" Logan simply nodded. "You know that doesn't really surprise me either."

"I ran into her today when I stopped by my Dad's office and I asked what she was doing there. She told me that she was going to ask my Dad to transfer her back to London. After what happened yesterday she felt stupid and horrible and knew that no matter how hard she tried she wouldn't be able to stop loving me and it wasn't fair to either of us. So she's leaving."

"Wow…" Rory said.

"That was pretty much my reaction." Logan said. Rory nodded again and tore her gaze away from him, staring at the hands that she hadn't stopped playing with since this conversation started. "What?" Logan asked.

"Nothing. It's stupid. I'm just being stupid." Rory said. Logan slipped a hand over hers and squeezed the comfortingly. She looked up at him, revealing some tears that had started to well. Logan used his other thumb to reach up and wipe them away.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"it's just…why didn't you kiss her back?"

"What?" Logan asked incredulously. Rory shook her head and looked away from him again.

"I've been so horrible to you the past couple days. I've treated you like crap. Why did you….Why didn't you…"

"Rory…" Logan started, bringing a hand up to her cheek and forcing her to look him in the eye and see the love that was etched all over his face. "I would never do that to you. I would never cheat on you. I love you. No stupid argument is ever going to change that."

"It wasn't a stupid argument, Logan." Rory said. "You were right. You were so right about everything. I don't appreciate everything you do and when you try to change for me I keep finding things to blame you for."

"Look, that might be a little true but I'm not innocent here either. I know I work too much. I hate it. You know I hate it but there's nothing I can do. But I try. I try so hard but I know that even that isn't enough sometimes."

"It should be." Rory said.

"No. It shouldn't." Logan said. "Look I know you hate that I'm so busy. And I hate that I'm missing so much here with you and the kids but…I mean I can only do so much."

"I know." Rory said. "And I'm happy with what you do. I promise I am. It's just sometimes I forget."

"And sometimes I'm an asshole." Logan said. Rory laughed as she wiped away the tears that had started falling a long time ago.

"I'm sorry." Rory said. Logan gathered her in his arms and started rocking her back and forth.

"I'm sorry too." Logan said, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too." The couple stayed silent for a moment, Logan gently rocking Rory back and forth in his arms. Until a painful yell broke them apart.

"Mommy!" the voice of a seriously distressed little girl screamed down the hallway. Less than a second later, Cody erupted in a fit of screams, very angry at being awoken in such a way. Logan groaned and let go of his wife.

"You get Ellie. I got the munchkin over here." He said.

"Deal." Rory said, kissing him quickly on the lips and walking out of the room to see what upset her daughter. Logan walked over to the bassinet and took Cody in his arms.

"You're alright." He said as he began to bounce the child lightly in his arms. "Daddy's got you. Calm down."

Within a matter of minutes the baby calmed and Logan placed him back in his warm bed. Once his eyes closed and his tiny mouth closed Logan smiled and walked out of the bedroom. He walked down the hall to his daughter's room to find Rory tucking a tearful Ellie back in her bed. Rory got up and walked to the door, switching off the light. Logan wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head.

"We did good." He whispered as they watched their daughter slip off into the land of dreams. Rory smiled.

"Yea…we did. Didn't we?" Rory asked. After a couple more seconds they turned around, closing the door quietly behind them. They headed back to their bed room, freezing when they almost ran into Dodger who was running down the hall, his tongue hanging out in excitement. Suddenly Logan felt something crash into his leg and looked down to find Jake hanging on, laughing. He reached down and threw him over his shoulder.

"What are you doing up?" he asked. Jake just laughed as he kicked his feet in protest of his father holding onto him this way. "Come on. It's time for bed." Logan said, carrying the little boy to his room. Rory stayed behind in the hall and watched her husband carry Jake. She smiled to herself.

"Yea….we did really good."

**TBC…**


	13. Interrogations

Okay…so…this chapter… it doesn't really feel like anything happens but something does. It's kind of a filler that sets up the conflict for the next chapter. I hope you guys like it. It's not really my favorite but hey…not every chapter can be perfect. Now I had to change some things around so, what I originally intended to happen in this chapter isn't happening. Mainly meaning, Lorelai isn't in it. I don't know when she'll be making an appearance but she will be soon. Also the way I've presented Ellie's problems wasn't what I originally planned but I like this way better. Anyway, thanks once again for the reviews last time! You guys rock! 

**Disclaimer**: Oh how I wished I owned Gilmore Girls. But I don't.

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Interrogations**

"I think this one is my favorite." Rory said in a playful whisper while pointing at a slumbering Cody who was resting peacefully in his car seat. He hadn't made a sound the whole ride down.

"Sh…" Logan whispered back. "They might hear you." As he shifted his arms to get a better hold on Jake who had been in and out of sleep for the past two hours, the little boy started to whine and squirm, announcing to his parents that he, once again, was awake.

"Were here now, buddy, calm down." Logan said, rubbing soothing circles in his sons back. Jake continued to whine as his grip on Logan's neck tightened and he buried his face in Logan's shoulder.

"Mom!" Ellie yelled to Rory from the front door. "Come on!"

"Hold your horses missy!" Rory yelled back. "We have to get Cody out of the car. You go ahead and ring the doorbell. We'll be there in a second." Ellie jumped in excitement and pushed the doorbell to Chateau d'Huntzberger as hard as she could. As Rory unclasped took the car seat out of the back of the car and closed the door, Logan stood next to her, watching their daughter and shaking his head.

"That girl is crazy." He said. Rory rolled her eyes. "Why does she want to go in there? I'm perfectly willing to stand out here on the driveway all night long."

"Go." Rory demanded her husband, pushing him lightly toward the front door and causing Jake to whine from the sudden shove.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." Rory said, "When we get inside you can go upstairs to Daddy's room and take a nap, okay?"

"I'm not tired!" the little boy insisted.

"Of course you're not, baby." Rory said. "Oh look…grandma and grandpa are here."

"I thought you knew they were coming." Logan said as they made their way up the front porch stairs.

"Oh I did." Rory said. "I just though that perhaps we'd be seeing the family in light doses, you know? First your parents, then grandma and grandpa would come about an hour after we got here, and then Mom and Luke after them. Now, don't get me wrong, you know I love Mom and Luke but the combination of them plus my grandparents and your parents is hell. It just isn't good for the baby."

"Which one, you or Cody?" Logan asked.

"Oh you're funny." The door opened and Ellie bolted in the house. By the time Logan and Rory stepped inside the foyer they could hear her in the living room.

"Grandpa!" she yelled. Logan took the baby carried while Rory slipped out of her coat and shook his head again.

"I don't understand that child. She's a complete mystery to me." Rory just rolled her eyes again and handed her coat to the maid before taking Cody back from her husband. The four remaining members of the family made their way into the living room where they found Ellie sitting on Mitchum's lap with a huge smile on her face. Rory was about to say something when her grandmother and mother-in-law suddenly bombarded her.

"Oh let me see my grandson!" Shira exclaimed. Rory was so surprised that she had no choice but to hand over the carrier to her. Cody erupted into screams when he was suddenly taken away from his mother and Rory's heart fell. He had been sleeping so well…

"Oh no…" Both of the women said at the same time, fussing over the distraught child. Shira placed the carrier on the coffee table and took Cody out. She began bouncing him lightly, trying hard to keep him from crying. "Did we wake you up?"

"Make him stop!" Jake whined from his position in Logan's arms. Logan sighed before bouncing Jake in his arms as well. He hadn't taken to a new baby in the house very well. He simply couldn't sleep through Cody's cries and, truth be told, he was probably getting less sleep than Rory and Logan. Which is why he was probably so tired right now.

"I'm going to go take him upstairs." Logan said.

"Go right ahead." Shira said, distracted by the baby in her arms. Rory handed Logan a small backpack that was hanging off one of her shoulder.

"His pajamas are in here." She said. Logan took the bag and shifted Jake in his arms again to get a better grip on him.

"Come on, buddy." Logan said.

"No!" Jake screamed, causing the young father to roll his eyes. "I don't wanna! I'm not tired!" Richard and Mitchum laughed as Logan struggled with his grumpy son and Logan seriously considered flinging a very expensive ceramic figurine at his father.

"I think you are." Logan said as he walked past them to the stairs.

"No I'm not! I don't wanna take a nap! It's not fair!" Jake screamed as they walked out of the room and up the stairs. The last thing everyone could hear was the sound of Logan telling the boy that life wasn't fair. Mitchum just laughed some more.

"I'll tell you, Richard…" he began. "Watching those two is the sweetest justice I could have ever hoped for."

"Oh I can imagine." Richard chuckled.

"I just can't wait until that boy is a teenager. I just hope he gives Logan half the crap he gave me."

"Bite your tongue, Mitchum!" Rory protested from her spot over by Shira and Emily. "I don't want him to be anything like Logan when he's older. I'm hoping it's a phase that he's going to grow out of."

"Come now, Rory." Mitchum said. "Logan didn't turn out that bad." Rory just glared at her father-in-law.

"Yea, you don't have to live with him." Rory reminded before turning her attention back to Cody who was being passed between the two women. Mitchum and Richard just looked at each other and laughed some more.

"She sounds a little bitter." Richard joked.

"Mom doesn't like living with Dad anymore." Ellie said from her spot on Mitchum's lap, causing the laughter of her grandfather and great-grandfather to cease immediately.

"What are you talking about, princess?" Mitchum asked.

"She doesn't! They fight all the time and they're always really mad at each other. My friend Eva says that when that happened to her Mom and Dad they got a divorce. I think my Mom and Dad are gonna get one too. I hope they don't though. Cause Jake would be really sad."

Richard and Mitchum turned their attention to Rory who was desperately trying to wrestle her son away from Shira and Emily to no avail. It was true she hadn't been quite herself lately, but they had chalked it up to the pregnancy and the new baby. Never in a million years did they imagine that she and Logan could be having problems. They had always been so crazy about one another.

"Sweetheart, why don't you sit on Grandpa Richard's lap for a while?" Mitchum asked. "I need to go talk to my son."

* * *

"Those tears aren't going to get you anywhere, kiddo." Logan said as he walked into his childhood bedroom.

"I'm not tired, Daddy. I promise." Jake said. "Ellie doesn't have to come take a nap. I want to stay downstairs. I'm a big boy now!"

"Even big boys need naps sometimes, buddy. Your sister doesn't have to take one because she's bigger than you and she's not tired."

"I'm not tired!"

"Yes you are. Now stop arguing. You're going to take a nap and that's final. When you wake up you can come back downstairs. Now come on. Let's get your jammies on." Logan placed Jake on his bed and opened the bag that Rory had given him. He took out a tiny pair of flannel pants and a white tee shirt and stripped Jake out of his clothes before putting them on. By the time he was finished getting him dressed Jake didn't have the energy to put up a protest any longer.

Logan lifted the blankets off the opposite corner of the bed and Jake climbed right on in. His father pulled the blankets tightly around him and Jake snuggled into the pillow. It didn't take long until the boy's eyes were drifting closed. Logan smiled and kissed him on the forehead.

"See, taking a nap isn't such a bad idea now is it?" he asked.

"I guess not." Jake said before breaking out into a huge yawn. "But I'm still not tired." Logan chuckled and shook his head. Within no time Jake was sound asleep.

"Sleep tight, kiddo." He said before walking lightly to the door and turning off the lights. When he left the room and closed the door, he was shocked to see his father standing on the other side of him. He jumped in surprise and his heart started beating rapidly.

"Jesus Christ, Emilio, could you try not being so sneaky next time?"

"We need to have a talk." Mitchum said, not giving Logan another glance before making his way down the hall toward his study. Logan stood there watching his father and scratching his head.

"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm sixteen again?" he asked to himself.

"Logan!" Mitchum called. Without a second thought Logan followed his father to his study.

When he walked through the door, he saw his father sitting behind his desk, pointing to the chair in front of him. He closed the door behind him and raised an eyebrow, wondering what the hell was going on. This had to be some sort of a joke.

"Okay… so… did I step through some sort of wormhole? A tear in the time-space continuum? Where's the doc?" Logan asked, looking around the room.

"This isn't a joking matter, Logan. Sit down. I need to have a serious discussion with you."

"Okay, okay." Logan said, raising his hands in front of him in a form of surrender. He took a seat in the chair that, over the years, he had become very familiar with. Just the act of being here gave him feelings that he would rather never feel again. This time, he had no idea what brought about this meeting. All he knew was that, once again, his father has succeeded in making him feel like a petulant child… and he was thirty-three years old.

"What's this all about, Dad?" Logan asked. Mitchum sighed and leaned forward in his chair.

"Look…you're not a child, Logan."

"How observant of you." Mitchum chose to ignore that statement.

"I can't sit here and tell you how to run your life. You're a grown man. It's not my place. But… I'm asking you to consider your children into the choices you make." Logan raised his eyebrow.

"I always consider my kids. In every choice I make."

"I don't think you are." Mitchum said with a sigh. "Look I know more than anyone what being in a…troublesome marriage is like…"

"Troublesome…wait – what?"

"The thing is you have three innocent children here. You and Rory need to try and work through whatever problems it is you're having with each other. If that means sleeping in separate rooms than so be it…"

"Separate rooms…?"

"But with those kids involved I'm asking you to take divorce out of the equation."

"Whoa! Hold on - "

"I know you don't want me butting my nose into your life but think about this, Logan. Children who grow up in split homes have so many more problems to face than children who live with both parents. Don't make their lives any harder than they have to be. Divorces are ugly. Just spare your family the heartache. There's nothing wrong with having an…illegitimate separation. I'm not asking you to sacrifice…certain aspects of your life…"

"Whoa! Okay…just stop right there before this steers into a place where I don't want to go." Logan said. "First of all, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about the impending divorce between you and Rory…"

"There is no impending divorce between Rory and me." Logan said. "At least not that I know of. Where the hell did you hear this?"

"There's not?" Mitchum asked. Logan shook his head adamantly.

"No!" Logan insisted. "We hit a rough patch for a while but nothing huge. We worked through it. We're not getting a divorce. That never even passed my mind. I would never consider divorcing her. I'm still madly in love with her." Mitchum sighed.

"Oh boy…" he said. "Look, son, you might need to have a talk with your daughter."

"What does Ellie have to do with this?" Logan said. "Wait…did she…did she tell you that Rory and I were getting a divorce?"

"She implied that you two were leaning in that direction. Now, I know she's just a child but…she's sharp. I've learned over the years to trust her instincts. When she said to me that she thought you two were splitting up I just assumed she was correct."

"Oh my God…" Logan said, shaking his head and gazing off into nowhere. Mitchum stood up from his seat behind the desk.

"Well…I'm going to get back to my company." He said. Logan didn't even acknowledge him as he walked toward the door. Mitchum paused for a second, looking back at Logan who was still sitting, mulling over exactly how he was going to approach this problem.

"So you and Rory are okay?" He asked, making sure that the problems between them were truly resolved.

"Yea, Dad, we're more than okay." Logan assured. Mitchum smiled a small smile and nodded his head.

"Good." He said. "I've always liked her. I was afraid I was going to lose her for a while."

* * *

"Oh Rory…" Emily cooed as she cradled the newborn infant in her arms. Cody's cries had stopped a few minutes ago and he had grown accustomed to being switched between his grandparents. "He's an angel." Rory, who was standing behind them, smiling at her son over her grandmother's shoulder agreed.

"How was he on the drive down here?" Shira asked.

"He was great." Rory said. "He slept the entire way. I told Logan that he's my favorite." The women chuckled for a second at Rory's joke and went back to cooing over the child.

"Is he sleeping through the night yet?"

"Oh no." Rory said, shaking her head and remembering the many nights in the past few weeks that she's been up with the screaming little boy. "Not yet. Ellie and Jake both started sleeping through the night at about two mouths or so. So we've still got a while to go with this one. He'll sleep for about three or four hours at a time if we're lucky."

"You must be so tired." Emily said sympathetically. Rory nodded.

"A little." Rory said. "Logan and I take turns. Really, I think he's got it worse than me. He actually has to go to the office in the morning. Jake, I think, is taking it the worst though. He just can't sleep through his cries and it's so hard for him to fall back asleep when he's woken up. The poor little guy had never been this crabby."

"I could tell." Shira said. "Well, he's perfectly welcome to take a nap upstairs."

"I really appreciate it, Shira." Rory said. "I know you don't see him often and now when we make it down here he's sleeping."

"You forget I had children of my own, dear. I completely understand." Shira assured just before Cody started to cry once again. The three women instantly tried to calm him.

"He probably needs to be changed." Rory said. "I'll take him."

Emily shifted the baby in her arms and handed him to Rory. Rory grabbed the diaper bag on the couch and headed upstairs to one of the guest rooms, leaving her daughter alone with her grandparents and great-grandparents. When she walked up the stairs, Richard gestured for Emily to come over to him and he whispered something in her ear. Emily's face fell into a serious and somewhat angry expression and she immediately took after her Granddaughter.

She stood in the doorway of the guest room and watched as Rory placed Cody gently on the bed before grabbing a blanket, diaper, and other necessary items from the diaper bag. When she turned to place them on the bed her eyes landed on her grandmother and she jumped. Her surprise turning into a smile when she saw whom it was.

"You might want to run for cover Grandma." Rory said. "This isn't going to be pleasant." Emily simply smiled as Rory laid the blanket over the bed and lifted Cody to place him down on it.

"Nonsense Rory." She said in a saccharine tone that had alarms going off in her granddaughter's head. "I've changed plenty a diaper in my day." Rory shrugged her shoulders and started to unbutton the bottom of Cody's light blue onesie.

"If you insist…" she said before turning her attention to her son and trying to distract him as she ripped open the sides of his diaper.

"So…" Emily said. "How have things been with you and Logan?" Rory raised her eyes brow in confusion as she placed a cloth over Cody to avoid any unwanted showers. She had learned the hard way with Jake that changing a boy wasn't exactly the same as changing a girl.

"Things have been a little hectic with the new baby but…other than that we've been fine. Why?" she asked.

"Oh nothing. I was just wondering. I know things can be hard with a new child. I wanted to make sure you and Logan were working through all your problems."

"Well…were doing fine, Grandma." Rory said. "Can you hand me a wipe?" Emily reached to her side and handed Rory a baby wipe from the container next to her.

"So you haven't been lacking in communication or fighting at all?" Emily asked, suddenly confused as to what the problem Richard was referring to could be.

"No…not really." Rory said as she lifted Cody slightly off the bed by his ankles.

"Huh…" Emily said, turning her face to the door in order to think. Suddenly she came upon a thought. "How have things been…in…you know… that area."

"Grandma!" Rory said, taken by uncomfortable surprise. "I just gave birth! Why are you even asking me this? There is a line in grandmother-granddaughter relationships that you have just crossed. The line is all the way over there…" Rory said, pointing vaguely to the side.

"It's a valid question." Rory gave her a look of disgust more powerful than the one she wore a few seconds ago when first opening her baby's diaper. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. He is your husband. You have three children. I know how children are made you know."

"Grandma…" Rory said as she threw away the old and slipped a new diaper onto Cody. She tried to distract herself in the process of finishing up so that this conversation wouldn't affect her as much.

"I realize that after giving birth you aren't able to…satisfy - "

"Oh gross…"

" – your husband in certain ways but there are other things you can do - "

"Okay this conversation ends here!" Rory said, fastening the buttons on Cody's onesie and giving her full attention back to her grandmother. "Logan and I are doing just fine, sexually and otherwise. I don't know why you feel the need to interrogate me about the more intimate details of my marriage but - "

"I was just wondering why it is that you and he have been considering divorce." Emily defended, not noticing how Rory's face morphed into a look of shock and confusion. "As your grandmother I think I have every right to know why you and your husband of eight and a half years are calling it quits… You say you aren't having any communication problems so logically I thought the problem could be in the bedroom…"

"Grandma what are you talking about?"

"Your grandfather told me that Ellie had mentioned to him and Mitchum not ten minutes ago that you and Logan were considering a divorce." Emily explained.

"She what?" Rory asked, her heart breaking at the though of Ellie thinking that anything of the kind would happen between she and Logan.

"Aren't you?"

"No!" Rory insisted, picking up a fussy Cody and holding him against her shoulder. "We never even thought about divorce. We had a fight a few weeks ago but I haven't even thought about it since then. We both apologized and moved on." Rory said. "She really thinks were getting a divorce?" Emily shrugged.

"Sounds like you need to sit down and talk to her." Emily said, standing up and reaching out to take Cody. Rory handed the baby over, to distracted to do anything about it. "I for one, am thrilled. I've always liked Logan."

"Yea…me too." Rory said.

"You clean up and I'll take this little guy downstairs." With that Emily left the guest room, talking to Cody all the way down the hall. Rory flopped on the bed, lost in her thoughts, only to snap back into reality when she heard a knock on the door. She looked up and saw Logan and her face formed a smile instantly.

"Hey you." she said, gesturing to him to join her. She stood up and began repacking the diaper bag.

"What's going on in here?" Logan asked as he walked over to his wife and kissed her cheek.

"Well I just changed your son and then my Grandmother kidnapped him." Rory said. "Oh…and she also told me to blow you." Logan quirked an eyebrow and reached down to unfasten his belt buckle. Rory rolled her eyes and smacked him on the shoulder.

"As much as I would like that…" Logan began. "I'm a little curious as to how this conversation came about."

"Well Grandma wanted to know what our marital problems were all about and when I told her that we weren't fighting very much she assumed it was because I wasn't having sex with you and since I've just given birth I should resort to 'other things'"

"Our marital problems?" Logan asked.

"Yes apparently we're getting a divorce."

"You know…I heard that too!" Logan said, causing his wife to laugh. "So what are we going to do about this? He asked seriously. Rory sighed.

"I don't know." She said. "I feel so horrible."

"Ace…"

"I mean…I can't believe we could ever have gotten so bad that Ellie would think that. I can't believe that we were so careless as to let our kids see us that angry at one another."

"Rory…" Logan said, gathering his wife in his arms. "Ellie is an exceptional kid,"

"I know that." Rory said.

"She would sense the tiniest amount of tension. I don't think there was anything we could have done to keep it from her. We never fought right in front of our kids. We were always civil to one another. There is nothing else we could have done to try to make them think everything was perfect. Ellie just knew better. She could feel it. She's smart."

"I just hate that she was suffering because of us."

"I know." Logan said. "I do too."

"And Jake! What if he thought we were having serious problems too!?! His poor little heart was probably broken."

"I know, Ace. But what happened, happened. There's nothing we can do to change that now. Tomorrow we'll sit them down and have a serious talk but you need to stop flagellating yourself. You are an amazing mother. Those kids love you more than anything."

"Yea?" Rory asked with a sniff.

"Hell yea." Logan confirmed. "Now stop crying and let's go downstairs and have some dinner.

"Okay…I know…" Rory said with a nod. "I'm just post-partum."

"Yea, I know." Logan said, wiping the tears that had fallen down her cheeks with his thumbs. "But I bet a nice juicy steak will make you feel a lot better." Rory laughed.

"Thank you." Rory said. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Let's never get divorced."

"Deal."

**TBC…**


	14. Dinnertime Confessions

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. This authors note isn't very long because I'm in a rush and I wanted to get this posted before I leave. I know I didn't respond to everyone's reviews. It's just that I had three updates worth of them and it would have been way too time consuming. I tried to answer everyone who had a question or concern bit if I missed you I'm sorry. Just holler at me again and I'll get back to you this time. Hope you like it! Please review! 

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Dinnertime Confessions**

"Jake." Rory warned as she stood in the parking lot holding Cody's carrier on her arm. The backseat door of the car was open and Jake was sitting petulantly in his car seat with his arms crossed over his chest. Rory had unclasped the seat belt a long time ago but the little boy refused to move out of the seat.

"Get out of the car right now." She said. Jake humphed and looked away from this mother.

"No!" Jake insisted. "I don't wanna go in there! It's for girls!" Rory groaned and rolled his eyes. Jake had just started his girls have cooties phase. He wouldn't go near anything that could be remotely construed as female and his sister's dance studio was yet another thing that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with. He simply would not be seen in there. The things it could do to his reputation.

"Jacob, I'm not going to tell you again." Rory said, placing Cody's seat down on the ground right next to her. She stood there mirroring his stance, her arms crossed threateningly over her chest. She knew that she could really just reach in and physically force him out of the seat but with the baby, carrying a squirming four year old all the way inside didn't seem like such a good idea. It was hard enough keeping a hold on Jake when she had both hands.

"Fine." Rory said. Jake whipped his head over to face her and he held a look of confusion. "If you want to stay in the car, you can stay in the car. Ellie's class will be over in about fifteen minutes and then she needs to get packed up and ready to leave so I should be back out here in about twenty minutes. You can chill in here by yourself until then."

"Fine!" Jake said, coming dangerously close to sticking his tongue out at his mother.

"I hope you don't get kidnapped." Rory said, watching Jake's eyes go wide in disbelief. "But if you do, remember to tell him that you're allergic to strawberries and penicillin."

Rory reached to close the car door and stifled a laugh at Jake's panicked face. The door slammed shut and she reached down to pick up Cody who was sound asleep. She turned around and started making her way to the studio, all the while counting to three in her head. When she reached the final number she heard the sound of her car door opening and turned around to see Jake sprinting toward her. He slipped his hand in hers and she looked down at him with an amused smile on her face.

"I thought this place was for girls." Jake shrugged.

"That's okay." He said with a shrug, making Rory want to burst out in laughter. Her little boy was far too manly for one trip to a dance studio to harm his reputation. When they reached the door to the studio, Jake let go of Rory's hand and reached up to the bar across the door. He pressed with all his might and opened the door for his mother. Rory simply smiled at the sight of Jake's struggling. "Why thank you sweetheart." She said, making sure to walk in fast so that he wouldn't have to hold the door much longer. "You are such a gentleman."

"Daddy told me to always open the door for girls, even though their gross. And you're kind of a girl." Rory raised both of her eyebrows and nodded. This is what she had been reduced to over the years. Not only was she gross but also she wasn't even a complete girl anymore.

"Well you should listen to your Daddy." Rory said before rolling her eyes. "He must have been doing something right back in the day."

"Rory!" a cheerful voice called from the waiting room. Rory turned to see a familiar blonde sitting on a chair and closing a magazine. She smiled and sat across from her.

"Hey, Kate." She said, while she settled Cody in the chair next to her and Jake wandered off to the corner of the room where a variety of toys were spread out.

"For a while I thought I was never going to see you again. Week after week your husband kept showing up – not that he's bad to look at across from me. But I'd rather look at you! Is that the baby?" Kate asked getting up from her seat and leaning over the carrier.

"No." Rory said. "That's just a dummy I carry around so people won't suspect that I sold him in exchange for a life time supply of coffee." Rory's friend laughed and rolled her eyes.

"He's beautiful." She said, smiling down at the slumbering infant before sitting back in her seat.

"Yea he is." Rory said with a smile. She turned her head and peeked into the dance studio where she saw Ellie give her an enthusiastic wave from the bar. Rory smiled and waved back before turning back to Kate.

"What'd you name him?"

"Cody Richard."

"Cute." Kate said. "You must be happy to be out of bed and around the town."

"Oh I was." Rory said quickly. "Then I remembered what schlepping two kids around all days is like." Kate laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Duncan is getting his license tomorrow! I have it marked on my calendar and I've been counting down the days until I can pawn off some errands on him. Unfortunately, we only get him on weekends and then he goes back to his bitch of a mother who doesn't even like him." Rory winced.

"How's that going?"

'Bad." Kate said. "Duncan is used to her and he claims not to mind. But it's killing James. It's obvious no matter how hard the kid tries to hide it he's miserable. James hates seeing his son like that. I hate seeing him like that too but we've tried to gain full custody twice before. At this point I'd be easier on all of us to just wait it out for two more years. It's not like she's abusive or anything. She just…she treats him like dirt. Lately he's been spending a lot of afternoons at our place and it seems to be helping with his mood."

"That's good." Rory said.

"It really is. Anna and Joey adore him and he's so good with them. It's almost as if they're whole siblings instead of half."

"Yea…" Rory said. "I hardly ever see my half-sister. I still think of her as a five year old and she'll be in high school next year."

Before the conversation could continue, Rory's phone went off in her purse and she reached in to answer it. Seeing that it was Logan, she asked Kate if she would mind keeping an eye on the boys while she stepped outside. Kate agreed with a smile and Rory left, flipping her phone open.

"Hey you." she answered.

"Hey." Logan said. "I just got home and no one was here. I wanted to call and make sure you didn't pack up and take the kids with you."

"Nope." Rory said with a smile. "I was going to do that next week." Logan laughed.

"I'll mark my calendar so I can fit in some time to try and stop you." Logan said. "Seriously though, where are you?"

"I'm picking up Ellie from her dance class." Rory reminded with a roll of her eyes. Just a few weeks ago Logan did this every week but now he's completely forgotten

"Right." Logan said. "Well…you asked me to come home early so we could talk to them and I'm home early so… I guess I'll start making dinner."

"That would be wonderful." Rory said with a smile. "I have to go. Class should be over any second. I love you."

"I love you too." Logan said.

Rory flipped her phone shut and walked back inside just as Ellie, along with ten other girls her age came scampering into the waiting room straight toward their parents. She noticed Ellie watching her friend Anna with excitement while she asked Kate a question and when the little girl turned to Ellie she nodded, making Ellie break out into a smile. Rory knew what was coming next. Ellie ran up to her and tugged at her arm.

"Mom can I go over to Anna's house?" Ellie asked. "Please!" Rory sighed.

"Not tonight sweetheart." She said, causing Ellie to break out into whines of disappointment. "Maybe some other time. But Daddy's at home making dinner and we need to talk to you about something." Seeing the look of pure sadness on her daughter's face Rory started to feel bad. "How about we have Anna over for a sleepover sometime this weekend?"

All disappointment forgotten, Ellie's face broke out into a huge smile and Rory watched as she ran over to Anna and they finalized their plans. Rory walked over to Cody's carrier that Kate had moved next to her and smiled down at Cody who had woken up and looked like he was on the verge of a crying fit.

"It's okay, sweetheart. We're going home." The sound of her voice seemed to calm the fussy child. She turned to her right where Jake was still playing with some toys and called him over to her. He reluctantly came, slipping his hand into Rory's. Once Ellie was ready to go, Rory bid goodbye to Kate and they confirmed their plans for the weekend. They walked outside and got in the car, making their way home.

* * *

"Mmm…something smells good." Rory said as she walked into the kitchen through the garage door. She placed Cody's carrier on the counter and walked over to the stove. Logan walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What are you making?" She asked, not bothering to take the lid off of the pot.

"Spaghetti and meatballs." Logan answered.

"Daddy!" Jake whined as he walked over to his parents. Logan rolled his eyes.

"I know. I know." Logan said. "You don't like tomato sauce. You can just have noodles and butter." Jake smiled and nodded his head. After multiple arguments Logan decided to give up on the subject. The fact that Jake had never even tried tomato sauce didn't change the fact that he hated it.

"Dad, I don't like meatballs!" Ellie insisted. Logan groaned and let go of his wife who was giggling at his expense.

"I give up making you people dinner!' He said, raising his hands in the air. "I used to be a good cook! Now I can't make one meal without being critiqued."

"Oh poor baby." Rory said, kissing her husband briefly on the lips before turning to her daughter. "Ellie, you can eat around the meatballs." Her daughter reluctantly agreed and Rory turned around to Cody who was kicking his feet around and got huge smile on his face when he saw his mother. Rory smiled back and picked him up.

"Your Daddy is more whiny than you are. Isn't he?" Cody smiled again and let out a gurgle that only a baby could emit. Rory rested him against his shoulder, beaming with happiness when she noticed his head didn't rest against her right away.

"Logan look!" Rory said, wanting him to witness Cody holding his head up on his own for the first time. Logan turned around, just as Cody's head fell on Rory's shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"He was holding his head up. You just missed it." Logan nodded.

"Sounds about right." He said, remembering the fact he had just missed most of his kids' firsts.

"I'm going to go feed him." Rory said.

"Okay." Logan said as he stirred the noodles that were almost soft enough to eat. Rory left the kitchen and Logan turned around to look at his daughter who was still clad in her ballet costume.

"Ellie will you set the table please?"

Ellie groaned with annoyance before dragging a chair from the kitchen table over to the counter. Logan turned around and watched her climb on top of the chair, biting his lip with worry. Before she could stand on the chair, he put his spoon down and walked over to her, picking her up and placing her back on the floor.

"I'll get the plates. You put them on the table. Deal?" Ellie just shrugged and took the stack of plates over to the table once her father safely retrieved them from the cabinet. As Ellie continued setting the table, Jake walked over to the stove and pulled on Logan's pants.

"Daddy can I help?"

"Yes. You can help by staying far away from the stove."

* * *

"Jake." Rory said, watching her son as four noodles hung out of his mouth. "Please don't slurp your spaghetti." Jake looked guiltily at his mother and grabbed the hanging noodles with his fist, shoving them in his mouth. Rory rolled her eyes and Logan tried his hardest to suppress a laugh.

"I'm sorry Mommy." Jake said.

"That's okay, sweetheart." She said. "Just twirl it around your fork next time."

The family continued to eat in silence. Rory and Logan would throw a look at each other every once and while, neither one of them wanting to start the conversation that they had to have. Once dinner was almost finished, Logan cleared his throat and placed his fork on the table, causing everyone's attention to be placed on him.

"Listen guys…" he said to his kids as their faces took on a look of fear. Usually when Logan had something to say at dinner it was because they had done something wrong. "We need to talk about something."

"Jake…" Ellie whined, rolling her eyes at her little brother. Logan raised an eyebrow at his kids and gave his son a hard look.

"Jacob…" he warned, wondering what on earth they were talking about.

"I didn't mean to lose it Daddy! It was a accident! I pwomise!" Logan's eyes went wide, wondering what on earth his son could be talking about. He shot a look at his wife who rubbed a panicked Jake's back.

"What did you lose, sweetheart?" Rory asked. Jake was still frozen in terror so his sister decided to answer for him.

"He lost Daddy's Mickey Mouse ball." Ellie said, forgetting for a moment that she had resolved to calling her parents 'Mom and Dad'. It happened every once and a while.

"Mickey Mouse ball?" Logan asked in confusion just before his eyes went wide and his face went pale in realization. "My Mickey Mantle ball?" Unconsciously his voice raised to the point of almost yelling. "How did you lose my Mickey Mantle ball? That was on a shelf, in a case, in my study, where you shouldn't be going without my permission anyway."

"I was playing fetch with Dodger outside!" Jake said, making Logan whimper from the realization that his son used his autographed Mickey Mantle baseball worth thousands of dollars to play fetch with his dog. "And when I threwed his other ball it went in Mr. Anderson's yard and the last time I went over there to get a ball back he yelled at me - "

"Mr. Anderson yelled at you?" Rory asked, suddenly angered by the fact that their next-door neighbor would dare to be mean to her little boy.

"Not the point!" Logan yelled, gesturing for Jake to finished his story.

"So I went in the garage to get another ball but we didn't have any and I membered that you had a ball in your study so I used it. But when I threwed it, it went in the street and it rolled down the street drain." Logan looked on the verge of tears.

"Logan…" Rory started. "Maybe we should talk about this later. We have more important things to discuss. It's just a baseball."

"Just a baseball?" Logan said. "My grandfather got that ball after a game in 1963 when my Dad was ten years old! It was personally signed to my father on his birthday! My father gave it to me. I was going to give to him!" he said, pointing at Jake. "We have plans tomorrow." Logan said, looking Jake straight in the eye. "We're going drain diving!"

"No you're not!" Rory said. "I will not let you send my son into a storm drain!"

"I'll put a harness on him." Logan reassured. That only seemed to upset Rory more.

"No!" Rory insisted. "Haven't you ever seen Now and Then?"

"It's going to be sunny tomorrow! He's not going to drown. I'd go down there myself but I won't fit. I'm getting that ball back! I don't care if I have to call the water treatment plant – which I will if It's not still down there!"

"Men…" Rory said, shaking her head in confusion. She would never understand why tiny round chunk of cork and leather would mean so much to him. "Jake, I think you owe Daddy an apology."

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Jake said, looking down at his plate in shame. Logan sighed, no matter how angry he was he couldn't stand seeing his son like that.

"I forgive you, kiddo." Logan said. "But you're not off the hook just yet."

"If that's not what you wanted to talk about then why did you want to talk to us?" Ellie asked. Ellie watched as her parents' demeanor's changed instantly and her father let out another sigh.

"Well sweetheart…" Logan started. "When we were over at Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner a while ago, Grandpa told me something that we need to talk to you about."

"Oh…" Ellie said, looking down at her food and knowing what was coming next. She should have known that telling her grandfather about her parents would bring about a talk like this. This was the moment that they were going to tell her and Jake. She almost started to cry.

"Grandpa told me that you told him you thought that Mommy and I were getting a divorce. Is that true?" Ellie nodded reluctantly.

"Are you getting a diborce?" Jake asked in a panic, having forgotten the topic until just now. Rory smiled sadly at him and grabbed his hand form across the table.

"No sweetheart. Don't worry. We're not getting a divorce." She and Logan watched as Jake visibly relaxed and Ellie, lifted her head up and wiped her budding tears away.

"You're not?" she asked.

"Of course not, baby." Rory said. "Why would you think that?"

"Because!" Ellie insisted. "You fight all the time and you yell at each other. All of my friends whose parents got divorced said that's why so I thought that you were too."

"Sweetheart." Rory said. "Your Daddy and I might fight a lot but it's not because we don't love each other. It's because that's what we do. I know that it's confusing for you to understand right now because you're little and you've never been in love before. But someday, you are going to meet a guy who is handsome and charming and you're going to fall madly in love with him and he's going to drive you crazy."

"But if Daddy drives you crazy then why do you love him?" Rory looked across the table at Logan and smiled at him.

"Because sweetheart, it's not enough just to love the good things about someone. No one you meet is ever going to be perfect. You have to learn to love people for the good stuff and the bad stuff."

"What kind of bad stuff?" Ellie asked.

"Well…for example, Daddy snores and that makes me angry sometimes because I'm trying to sleep and he's being loud but after years of sharing a bed with him it's gotten to the point where I miss his snores when he's not there and even though it's quiet I have an even harder time falling asleep." Rory said. Ellie nodded, starting to somewhat understand what her mother was saying.

"And your Mom has a tendency to reorganize my study when she's cleaning and that bothers me sometimes because things aren't always where I leave them but now when I walk in looking for a file I know exactly where to find it. Before I used to pile everything up in a unorganized mess. It took me forever to find something."

"See…sweetheart…Daddy and I may fight with each other sometimes but we need you to understand that no matter what we love each other and we'll work things out. I'm not going to say that we'll never going to get a divorce because I can't see the future but just know that we are going to try our hardest to make sure it never comes to that, okay? Because at the end of the day no matter how mad I might be at him I still love him" Ellie nodded.

"You don't stop loving Jake every time you fight do you?" Logan asked. Ellie shook her head. "I bet that even if you were really mad at him if he really needed your help you'd help him out right?" Ellie nodded. "How about you kiddo? Do you feel the same way about your sister?" Jake nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Alright…that's good to know." Rory said. "So, are we okay?" Ellie nodded again. "Can I have a hug?" Ellie sprung up from her chair and hugged both of her parents. Jake did the same, even though the conversation hadn't really held his attention for that long a time.

"Okay, you two go start getting ready for bed while Daddy and I clean up the kitchen."

* * *

Rory closed the door to the nursery. Finally, she succeeded in getting all of her children asleep. Jake and Ellie didn't prove to be that much of a problem but Cody was another story. Hopefully now he'd be asleep for most of the night. Every day he seemed to be sleeping longer and longer which was making Rory's life much easier. She wasn't nearly as tired as she used to be.

She walked into her bedroom and went straight for her dresser where she started slipping off hr earrings. She was about to turn around when she felt Logan's arms wrap around her waist and his lips on her neck. She relaxed into his embrace.

"So…" he said, his hands creeping along her sides. For the first time in weeks, Rory didn't wiggle away from his touch.

"So…" Rory said, turning around in his arms and looking Logan in the eye.

"Cody is seven weeks tomorrow…" Logan said. Rory raised an eyebrow as she started pushing him toward the bed.

"Is that so?" Rory asked. "Why do you bring that up?"

"No reason." He said with a shrug. "I just thought I'd point out that he's older than six weeks now…isn't that unbelievable?"

"Oh it's unbelievable." Rory said, pushing him down on the bed and straddling his lap.

"Well…I guess I was just wondering if you're feeling any better now… now that it's been seven weeks…" Rory laughed at him.

"Why don't you just come out and say what you want to say."

"Cause last time I said it you got mad at me." Logan said, wincing at the memory of last week when he had tried the same thing. Rory had blown up at him, claiming that just because the doctor said she'd be able to have sex at six weeks didn't mean that she felt like having sex.

"Well…I'm not getting mad now." Rory said, deciding to put an end to the game that they were playing. She slipped her hands underneath Logan's shirt and pulled it over his head. She started kissing his neck and made a path toward his ear.

"I've been wanting to rip your clothes off since dinner." She said. Logan groaned and slipped her shirt off as well, followed closely by her bra. He brought his hands up and started playing with her breasts, only to have Rory groan and break away from him.

"Logan…I love you and I'm ready to make love to you I really am. It's just please stay away from those. They need a break."

Logan nodded, flipping his wife over and forcing his attention elsewhere in order to give his wife the 'break' that she needed.

**TBC...**


	15. Home

All right folks! This is it. This is the last chapter of Perfect Timing! I know, sad. But it's not completely over! Once you're done reading this you can read the first chapter of the third story, _Déjà Vu_! Haha, now that the advertisement is over I can continue. Like I said this is the epilogue so It's going to be light and fluffy…not much is going to happen and it's going to be short. But it will be good! Lol. I hope you enjoy. Please review! Seriously you guys…it's like I kicked someone's puppy or something. I'm used to getting almost twice the reviews I got for the last chapter and, although it's still a lot and I'm so grateful to everyone who's reviewing and sticking with me, it makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong. So please review. And one more random note…the way I had originally planned to end this explained the title but now what I had in mind doesn't really work so…just…make up your own meaning for the title. Lol. 

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own those lovely Gilmore Girls.

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Home**

Rory awoke to the comfort of her own bed, feeling more rested and peaceful than she had for days. The sound of birds chirping could be heard from outside and the sunlight was peeking through the window and casting a glow on the bed. She hummed contently and wrapped the blankets tightly around herself, making sure that every inch of skin was covered in case any unexpected visitors popped into the bedroom. Once she was satisfied, she flipped over and rolled toward the center of the bed, wanting nothing more than to relax in the arms of her husband. However, when he hand touched ground, she felt only the cold expanse of empty sheets instead of his warm flesh.

Surprised, she bolted upright and popped her eyes open, finding it way too bright in the room for her liking. In a panic, she whipped her head around to look at the clock on the bedside table and her heart started racing when she read the time. Eleven o'clock.

She threw the covers off of herself and dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt as fast as she possibly could. She was going to kill Logan. She was going to hunt and main him. He had to be insane letting her sleep this long on a Saturday morning with three children – one being an infant. There was no possible way that man was able to watch over all three of them by himself. It was hard enough for her, the parent they didn't have wrapped around their little fingers and were slightly afraid of. They would kill him.

Upon leaving her bedroom, she could hear the squealing laughter of Jake and the pitter-patter of his footsteps, knowing right away something was going on. She burst into the nursery, finding Cody nowhere and she didn't know whether to be nervous or relieved. He was downstairs, meaning he was being taken care of but if he was sleeping at least there was no chance that he was sitting in his swing being eaten by Dodger while Logan tried to wrangle Jake to the ground and Ellie accidentally got permanent marker all over the kitchen table while coloring one of her masterpieces.

Closing the nursery door behind her, she continued to make her way downstairs and couldn't suppress a smile as the smell of bacon met her nose. At least there was bacon. Although, her mind couldn't help but wonder when on earth Logan turned into Super-Dad. Passing the Living room, she saw that Cody's swing was empty, meaning that Logan had to be balancing the baby in one arm, flipping bacon with the other, while keeping Jake from running rapid through the house with one foot and keeping Ellie from harming herself while trying to 'help with the other'.

This simply was impossible. She loved that man very much but just last week he had thought watching Ellie by herself was stressful and she was the easiest of the three. Rory walked into the kitchen and almost fainted in relief when she saw what was waiting for her.

"Luke!" She exclaimed, smiling at the man standing over a sizzling pot on the stove.

"Hey Rory." He said while grabbing Ellie's wandering hand. She had recently been going through a cooking phase. She wanted to help Rory cook everything – even take-out which…really didn't have a point unless placing food on plates could be considered cooking. She had yet to grasp the fact that stoves were scolding hot – but really Rory looked at that as a good thing.

"I want to help, Luke!" Ellie said. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Yes you've told me that five times already but I said no. You're going to hurt yourself. You can help me make the toast later." Ellie sighed, but stayed at her step-grandfather's side. Rory smiled, knowing that in three minutes they would have the same conversation all over again.

"Where's Logan?" Rory asked, throwing the question in the air.

"He's chasing Jake around the house." The voice of her mother sounded from the table. Rory turned around and smiled at the sight of her, suppressing the urge to run over to her and throw her arms around her in joy when she saw that she was feeding Cody with one of the bottles she had stored in the fridge.

"Do I want to know?" Rory asked as she calmly walked over to her mother and gave her a small hug, making sure not to squish the baby. Before Rory had the chance to respond the family heard another shill scream from Jake and Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you find out for yourself?" She said. Rory twitched an eyebrow.

"Jacob!" she heard Logan yell impatiently. "You get back here right now or I'll make sure you regret it!" Three seconds later let out a laugh and ran into the kitchen. Rory's eyes went wide as she took in his naked appearance.

"Mommy!" He yelled, running up to her and crashing into her leg. Rory faltered a little at the impact, but quickly regained her footing. She looked down at her little boy and laughed.

"Look at you." she said. "Are you supposed to be taking a bath?"

"No!" Jake insisted. Rory rolled her eyes and hugged him to her leg, knowing that at any moment he would freak out and run away from her.

"I think you are." She said.

"No I'm not!" Jake insisted as, just on time, he began to wiggle away from her. Rory held him as hard as she could as she saw Logan walk down the hallway toward the kitchen. Once he got there, he scooped his son up from the ground and kissed Rory on the cheek.

"Thanks, Ace." He said.

"Not a problem." Rory said as she sat down on the table next to her mother. They could hear Logan yelling at Jake all the way upstairs and Rory just shook her head.

"How long had that been going on?"

"About fifteen minutes." Lorelai said with a laugh. "I thought about helping him but it was just too amusing. It was like watching Wile. E. Coyote try to catch the Roadrunner."

"Well thank you. I appreciate the help." Rory said sarcastically.

"I am helping." Lorelai defended. "I'm feeding this little angel his lunch. He was one hungry guy." Rory smiled as her mother cooed down at her baby with a huge grin on her face.

"Yep." Rory said. "He's got the Gilmore appetite."

"Well that's a fine trait to have." Lorelai said with a smile.

"That it is" Rory said, smiling one more time at grandmother and grandson.

Her attention turned to Luke who was still slaving over the stove and had finally given in to Ellie's cooking phase. She was standing on a chair, stirring a pot of oatmeal. She couldn't help but smile. The feeling of having her whole family under one roof was just too amazing to describe. Sometimes she couldn't believe all of this was hers. She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a grunt from Cody and turned to see him pushing his bottle away.

"I think someone wants Mommy." Lorelai said as Cody's face started to turn red, signaling that he was about to cry. Rory smiled and held out her arms for the child and as soon as she held him he calmed. She lifted him over her shoulder and started to pat his back, wincing when she felt something wet run down her back.

Yes…sometimes she couldn't believe this was hers.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Rory asked as she walked outside to the sidewalk where Logan and Luke were both were both currently lying. When she saw the rusty drain lid lying on the ground next to them her eyes rolled immediately.

"You have got to be kidding me." She said. The boys ignored her and went about their business, leaving her there to place her hands on her hips and tap her foot.

"Do you see it down there?" Logan asked, maneuvering a long stick around the drain hole. Luke squinted and bit his tongue.

"Uh…move it a little to the left…no that's a tennis ball." He said, not being able to see the look of obvious disappointment on Logan's face. Rory just shook her head.

"Mom and I are taking Ellie shopping. Can you watch the boys?"

"Yea, yea, whatever." Logan said. Rory rolled her eyes and placed the baby monitor down on the sidewalk next to him.

"I just put Cody down for a nap so he should be good for a couple of hours. There are some bottles in the fridge. Don't forget to heat them up."

"Yea, Ace, I've done this before."

"Well Dodger is still inside and Jake is around here driving his car around so just keep an eye on him."

"Just put him on a leash." Logan said, waving his wife away. When nothing but silence followed he looked up to see Rory's face etched with disgust. "The dog…put the dog on a leash." He clarified, watching as her face instantly fell with relief.

"Don't you ever put my son on a leash!" Rory said.

"I had no intention to put our son on a leash, Ace. It probably wouldn't do much good anyway. He'd just chew himself free."

"That's not funny." Rory said, trying to keep her smile down.

"It was a little funny," Logan said, distracted by moving the flashlight on a stick around the drain.

"Wait…I see it!" Luke exclaimed. Logan snapped into attention and listened intently as Luke directed his gaze to the missing ball.

With a laugh of annoyance Rory bid goodbye to the men, let the dog out, and climbed in the car where her mother and daughter were waiting patiently for her. The three women speed off down the street, leaving the men of the house all to themselves.

"So…" Logan said. "How are we going to do this?"

"Well…" Luke started, sitting up and rubbing the stubble on his chin. "I don't think the claw device idea it going to work. It's not in a position where we can get a good grip on it and so we risk dropping it all the way down the sewer if we go that route."

"So…"

"So, I think really the only option we have is…sending someone down there." Both men looked down the narrow drain and back at each other, knowing that under no circumstances were they going to fit. With a sigh, Logan lifted his head and his gaze went directly to the tiny Hummer speeding down the street.

"All right." Logan said. "You get the rope. I'll get the life jacket."

"Life jacket?" Luke asked.

"Well we need some kind of harness right? I think Rory might be more upset with my if I dropped my kid down the drain than if I would drop the ball down the drain…"

"Yea…I see your point its just…don't you think a harness would work better with support from the bottom…with a life jacket we'd have to tie the rope to the shoulders. It would hold but it would make it hard for him to use his arms."

"Right…" Logan said.

"You have a swing set around back right?" Luke asked.

"Yea…"

"Well do you have one of those bucket swings with the leg holes?" Logan's face lit up.

"Luke, you are a genius man."

* * *

"Logan?"

"In here, Ace." Logan asked as he walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his face. He was so busy trying to get the excess water out of his hair that he didn't notice the angry look on her face and her defensive stance.

"Did you have fun shopping with your Mom?" he asked, before she could ask.

"Yes. I did."

"Good I'm glad." He said, smiling and walking past her to the closet, kissing her cheek in the process. Rory smiled tightly and turned around to watch him get dressed.

"Did they leave already?" he asked.

"Yep. Luke had to get home. He has to open the diner tomorrow." Rory explained.

"Oh…" Logan said in disappointment. "That's too bad. I wanted to say goodbye."

"Yea that's too bad." Rory said. "You want to explain to me why there's a mutilated Mickey Mantle ball on the kitchen counter?"

"I wouldn't say it's mutilated." Logan protested. "It's a little dirty but once I clean it up…"

"Logan!" Rory exclaimed.

"What?" he asked.

"I can't believe you!" Rory said. "I can't believe you sent our son down a drain pipe to get a baseball! Can I leave you here with the children ever? Do I need to watch them at all times? Jesus Christ!"

"Hey he was safe the whole time." Logan defended.

"Yea…"

"He was, Ace." Logan said, walking over to his wife and placing two soothing hands on her arms. "You know I would never endanger our children like that."

"You sent him down a drain pipe!"

"Rory…" Logan said. "I took every precaution to make sure Jake was one hundred percent safe. He had a helmet. He had elbow and kneepads. Luke and I took apart the swing set and sent him down there in the bucket swing. We tied the rope to the tree so that, on the off chance that both of us would drop it because we were both holding on, he still wouldn't be able to fall. We even put padding on the swing so that he would be comfortable."

"I just don't understand why a baseball is so important that you would do that…"

"It's not like I sent him down there with robe hooked to his underwear, Ace."

"He has a scrape on his leg." Rory said.

"That was from chasing Dodger when we played fetch afterwards. He tripped and fell on the pavement. I took him inside, got him cleaned up, put Neosporin on it, and gave him a Shrek band-aid. Am I still a horrible father?"

"I never said you were a horrible father!" Rory said. "Don't you dare ever put those words in my mouth again!"

"Well I was just getting yelled at for putting him in danger…"

"I'm sorry." Rory said. "You're right. Although what you did was unnecessary and I'm still not very happy about it, you made sure he was safe and that is why you are a wonderful father. Sometimes I think you're better than me."

"What?" Logan asked, leading Rory over to the bed and sitting her down. "Where is this coming from?"

"You're protective but you're not over-bearing." Rory said. "You're okay with letting them face potentially harmful situations on their own and you're there when things go bad. I smother them, Logan. I'm so afraid to let them walk across the street by themselves because they might get hurt. I don't know how you can step back when they fall and let them get up on their own like you do. I'm running for them and picking them up when they trip on carpet."

"Rory…" Logan began. "That doesn't make you a bad mother. That makes you a good one. Those kids are going to trip whether you intentionally give them the chance or not. What they know and love about you is the fact that when they do you're there right away. They don't hesitate in crying to you. They know you and the trust you to be a shoulder to cry on. When they cry to me all they say is 'I want Mommy.'"

"But how much is too much, Logan? When does support cross the line to sheltering. I don't want to raise scared sheltered children."

"I don't know, Ace." Logan said. "Ellie is at that age when she wants to do everything and it's hard to know what to let her do and not let her do. But I think we're doing okay so far. She's definitely not scared and sheltered. If she was she wouldn't want to do all these things. She's got her mother's sprit."

Rory smiled and wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"I just want to do a good job."

"You are." Logan said. "I admire you so much, Ace. I don't know how you do it. I don't know how you stay at home everyday with all of them by yourself. I was going crazy this morning just trying to get Jake to take a bath. Thank God your Mom and Luke were here." Rory laughed as Logan unknowingly mirrored her thoughts of earlier that morning.

"You've sacrificed so much for them. You've given up your dream job and I know that isn't something small for you…"

"I didn't give it up." Rory insisted. "I'm going to work again. I am. I have to Logan. But right now this is a full time job for me. When Cody starts school I'm going to reapply at the Times."

"Really?" Logan asked with a smile.

"Really." Rory confirmed. "I miss writing. I miss the hustle and bustle…not that there isn't hustle and bustle here because trust me there is but…it's definitely not the same. But I can go three more years."

"Yea?" Logan asked. "Because you don't have to, you know. Really, Ace, the second you want to work again I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen. I'll give Gracie a call. The kids loved her and she was so great with them. Chances are she's probably taken again but I can make a very generous offer…"

"You don't have to do that." Rory said, stopping him before he made plans that she had no intention of following through with. "I want this. I want three more years with my babies. I do. I love working but to leave at eight and come home at six every night…I would miss them too much. I would miss Cody too much. I got to see everything with Ellie and Jake I don't want to miss out on anything with him. I don't want to be sitting at the dinner table telling them about their first steps and when Cody asks where he took his say… 'I don't know, the nanny said it was in the living room somewhere.' I want to see it. I want him to be walking toward me."

"I understand." Logan said, nodding his head solemnly. The only firsts he ever witnessed were first words and that was because most babies say Dada before Mama. "And if you think for one second that a heart with intentions like that makes up a horrible mother then you better do some more research."

Rory let out a cry at his statement and Logan reached up to wipe her tears away.

"I love you." She said, leaning into his embrace and closing her eyes contently.

"I love you too." Logan said, a devilish smile crossing his features. "So how about number four?" Rory violently pushed him away from her and stood up.

"The next time you even joke about that your getting a vasectomy."

"Noted." Logan said, seriously frightened by his wife's statement. "How about some sex with absolutely no intention of a baby at all."

"I think the sex during which Cody was conceived was sex with absolutely no intention of a baby at all."

"Oh yea…" Logan said, his face falling.

"In fact…" Rory began. "Maybe you should just get a vasectomy."

"What?"

"I'm serious." Rory said. "Think about it we'd never have to deal with birth control again. There won't be any slipups – unless you pull a Jackson on me. I think we should really consider this."

"Mommy!"

"Crap." Rory said, getting up and walking out of the room. "I'll be right back. You think about that.'

Logan watched the mother of his children leave their bedroom completely speechless. One second he thought he was going to get laid and the next thing he knows he's facing the possibility of making the ultimate sacrifice. What did she want from him? Ever since she walked into his life she was forcing him to do all these things. He dated her exclusively. He moved in with her. He married her. How much did she expect from him? Was nothing good enough for her? Did she really expect him to give up…that?

"Oh honey…" Rory said, popping her head in the door. "If you don't want to that's fine but…we should probably start using condoms all the time again…just in case."

Logan shook his head in disbelief. The things he did for that woman.

**The End.**

* * *

Well, folks, that was it. I hope you liked the last chapter. I know nothing really happened until the last part but, hey, everyone loves a little plotless fluff everyonce and a while right? Thank you so much for reading. Seriously, the feedback I got on this story was unbelievable! You guys are so amazing. Thanks again so so much. Don't forget to review: D 


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